


We Can Chase The Wild Dreams, Live Like Crazy

by Mooresomore



Category: Under The Dome (TV)
Genre: A lot more tags, F/M, Het and Slash, Kid Fic, M/M, Pediatric Nurse AU, mention of suicide, too lazy to tag them all - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-01
Updated: 2014-12-01
Packaged: 2018-02-27 15:36:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 50,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2698151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mooresomore/pseuds/Mooresomore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe is a pediatric nurse. Barbie comes into his clinic one day with a little girl, and life changes forever. Side Junior/Angie.</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Can Chase The Wild Dreams, Live Like Crazy

**Author's Note:**

> Written for NaNoWrimo 2014. This is the longest fic I've ever written!
> 
> Disclaimer: This is complete and total FICTION. That means it never happened and is completely untrue. In fact, this is so far from the truth that it isn’t even in the same country as the truth. I don’t own anybody, and I make no money off of this. I am not in any way implying said characters’ sexual identities. I don't own these characters either. Blah, blah, blah... :)
> 
> Title taken from "Are You With Me" by Easton Corbin

Joe McAllister had been a nurse at the Chester's Mill Pediatric Clinic since he had graduated from nursing school. His sister, Angie, had gotten him the job (she was a receptionist/appointment coordinator). He had seen a lot of the people frequently; in fact, he knew most of the adults- he'd grown up with them since birth. (Chester's Mill was a small town where everybody knew everybody). 

Which is why this new guy immediately caught his eye. He was tall, and almost military-like (the hair gave it away; it was a short buzz-cut). Joe had never seen him before. And there was a little girl with him. Joe called up to the front to Angie to find out about the mystery man.

"He's new in town." is all Angie said. "He's your next patient's dad. Why don't you find out more when you ask the questions if you're so interested." They hung up and Joe came up to the front to get his next patient. He grabbed the purple paper and called out the name. "Giana?"

"Gigi, that's us." the guy said, reaching out and grabbing the carrier. Joe opened the door. "We're going to go to the left today, to room 9." They made their way down the hall, and once they entered the room, Joe pulled up the chart note on his screen. 

"I'll have you work on getting her undressed. My name is Joe, and I'm one of the nurses here. And you are?"

"Barbie." The guy said. "Uh, Dale. Dale Barbara. Mostly everyone calls me Barbie. But I know you need my legal name, so it's Dale."

"Ok." Joe started typing. "And your relationship to the patient?"

"Her dad."

Joe did the basic questions, asking about allergies and medications, and then had Dale stick Giana in the scale. "16 lbs 6 oz." Let's lay her on the table and I'll get her height."

They finished up everything, and then Joe asked, "Do you have any concerns you want to bring up?"

"Uh yeah. I want to know if I'm feeding her too much. This is my first time..." there was a pause before Dale continued. "I mean, I've never taken care of a baby before, and I just want to make sure I'm doing it right, you know?"

"Absolutely." Joe said. "And you're not the first one to have that question. I'll write it in the note so the doctor can address it with you."

"Thanks."

"And it looks like she's due for her 6 month shots. Do you want to do those today?"

"What will she get?"

"Hep B, DTaP, IPV, Rotavirus, PVC13, and Hib." Joe said. Then remember that Barbie was pretty new at this, he added, "There will be 3 shots and a drink. The Hep B is for hepatitis B, the DTap is diptheria, tetanus, and pertussis-or whooping cough, the rotavirus is for preventing severe acute gastroenteritis, or vomiting and severe diarrhea, the IPV is for polio, the PVC 13- or Prevnar is for preventing ear infections and meningitis, among other illnesses, that are caused by _Streptococcus pneumoniae_ bacteria, or just sometimes "pneumococcus", and the Hib is for preventing meningitis, which is an infection of the covering of the brain and spinal cord, pneumonia, a severe lung infection, epiglottis, a severe throat infection, and other serious infections caused by the bacteria."

"Yeah, let's go ahead. She needs them, right?" Dale said.

"I'll have you sign this consent form." Joe said, as he circled the shots and then passed the screen to Dale. "The doctor should be in shortly. Let us know if you need anything before that."

"Thanks."

After the doctor was done visiting with Giana and Dale, she put out the flag. Joe went and drew up the shots and then entered the room. "Ok. Here we go. I'm going to give her the Rotavirus, or the drink, first." Giana slurped it down, and then it was on to the shots (which if Joe was completely honest, was his least favorite part of the job.) "Ok. Dale, I'm going to have you hold her hands and snuggle with her, and I'm going to hold on to her ankles and hold her knees. Ready?"

"Yeah." Joe cleaned the area with alcohol and then quickly inserted the first shot. Giana wailed, and Joe got the other two in without problems. He placed bandaids on them and then told Dale, "Ok. You can stay in the room for as long as you need. Just take the purple sheet out to the front when you leave."

"Thanks Joe."

Dale and Giana left shortly after that, and when Joe got into her chart to review her shots, he did some looking. She was apparently a new patient, and they didn't have any information plugged into the computer system yet. Joe didn't remember seeing the family history questionnaire. _Hmm...the mystery continues._ Joe thought.

Joe finished the rest of his shift, but all he could think about was Dale Barbara and Giana. What was their story? Where was her mom? Why did they come to Chester's Mill? Where did they live before this?

Dinner was a family affair; their parents hadn't been around in a long time; it was just Joe and Angie now. Joe pushed all of the day's events out of his mind, until he went to bed. He knew he had to find out more about Mr. Mysterious.

Joe McAllister had always known he wanted to help people. First, he had wanted to be a teacher, then it was a doctor. He even had a brief period where he thought he had wanted to be a lawyer when he was 10. But then he had broken his arm falling out of their old oak tree at age 11 and ended up in the Emergency Room. That was where his love for nursing started.

The nurse (he could still remember her name to this day; it was Freddie), had been so kind and compassionate with him, and it hit Joe like a ton of bricks. _This is what I want to do. I want to help people get better and be there by their side._ He had talked to his dad about it, who was skeptical at first, thinking it was just the side effects of the medication. Once he realized that Joe was serious about nursing, he reluctantly accepted Joe's decision. His mom had died the year before, so Joe couldn't ask her opinion; for some reason, he had a feeling she'd be proud of his choice.

Joe had looked into different schools, and finally decided on Chester's Mill Community College. It had been a long and stressful two years, but he had made it. He would never forget the day he got the confirmation that he'd passed his NCLEX and was now a registered nurse.

Finding a job had been a little harder; it was Chester's Mill after all. His sister, Angie, was a receptionist at the local pediatric clinic, and there had just happened to be an opening. Joe wasn't big on pediatrics, but he figured he'd give it a shot. He interviewed, and was offered the job the same day. 

It had been a big learning curve; the charting and the immunization training was daunting at first, but Joe had applied himself and was a "rock star" according to his co-workers, but the end of his second week. The triage was the worst to learn, thank goodness there was a big reference book to help him out. There was no way he could remember all that information.

That had been 2 years ago now. Joe loved the kids he worked with (the parents, not so much sometimes). He couldn't see himself doing anything else. He loved watching the kids grow up right in front of his eyes, and how he felt like he knew everything about them (well, when you think about it, he kind of did- between the sick visits and the yearly checks, he saw them frequently). 

If he was being honest, he hated doing the immunizations. He knew it was part of the job, but it sucked. The kids generally cried, and Joe felt bad. But giving them a sticker at the end made it all better. Plus, the good thing was they would hopefully not get sick, so it was a win in the end.

His favorite part of being a pediatric nurse was the smiles the kids gave him, and when they answered his questions. And some of the things they said melted his heart and made him laugh when he was having a bad day. Fixing "boo boos" was his specialty.

Joe would be lying if he said that he'd ever think of changing careers or leaving the pediatric clinic. This was his home, and he belonged here. Each challenging day was offset by a day of smiles and laughter. And Joe wouldn't have it any other way. Chester's Mill Pediatric Clinic was his home.

Dale "Barbie" Barbara had done many things he wasn't proud of in his lifetime; this was not one of them. As he gazed into his new daughter's eyes, it seemed like the world around him just faded away. 

Dale had entered the military right after he graduated from high school- it was more of a "fuck you" to his father, who had wanted him to take over the family business. But he had found out that he fit well in the military, so he stayed in and reenlisted once his initial time was up. 

The military was also where he met Julia Shumway, the mother of his daughter. Barbie had been tasked with helping the doctor on base, Peter Shumway (Julia's husband), and he had said hi, but thought nothing more of it. Then there was "the accident", and Barbie was the one Julia turned to. From there, things had just kind of progressed.

Looking back into his daughter's face (Giana, he reminded himself- she was here now, and real), Barbie knew what he had to do. He went to the General's office and put in his resignation. It was what was best for his family, for him. It was time to patch things up with his dad too, but that wasn't a bridge Barbie was willing to cross just yet.

Peter Shumway was the doctor on base, and these last few days had been rough; he was in his office when the man approached him and offered help. Peter wasn't one to accept help, especially from people he didn't know, but this man was extremely persuasive, and Peter gave in. He shook hands with the man on the deal, and just like that, his charts were neatly typed up and ready for him to sign. Peter was grateful for the help.

Barbie had shown up to help, only to find this new, mysterious man in his seat. When he asked the man what was going on, the strange man responded, "Just helping an old friend out. Why don't you take the day off Mr. Barbara?" When Peter nodded, Barbie did.

Barbie had no more than left the clinic when his phone dinged with a message from Peter. "Get help. Not who says he is." Barbie was on his way to the corporal's office as fast as he could, but by the time they got back, it was too late. Peter Shumway was lying on his office floor in a pool of blood. His wife, Julia, was on the way in to meet him for lunch. Dale took it upon himself to steer her away.

A couple of hours later, as they were cleaning up the office, Barbie found the paperwork Peter had compiled on the "mystery man". His name was Walter Cleaver, and he was part of the top-secret CIA lab that was working on a classified mission; from what Peter had gathered, it looked like a dome of some sort. The last page was dated the date of the incident, and the headline stuck out like a sore thumb. _What if there was an imaginary dome over your town? What would you do?_ Barbie felt his blood run cold, and he knew he had to get out of there, fast, and take whoever he could with him.

Barbie was on his way out the door when he heard the loud thump, and the ground started to shake. At first, he thought it was an earthquake, but then he realized that this must be the dome coming down. His suspicions were confirmed when he watched the cow fall apart- it had been struck in the middle by the dome. Next, there was a plane coming towards them. It clipped the dome, and then it was spiraling towards the ground. Barbie saw the kid standing there, and he leapt into action.

Once they were both safe, Barbie asked the kid if he was ok. "Yeah. You good?"

"Yep." Without another word, Barbie was off, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. Why did the dome come down now? Why here? Why was he trapped in the middle of it? His mind raced with all the questions, but no answers were coming to him.

Joe ran back to the Chester's Mill Pediatric Clinic, thankful when he found Angie there. "Oh god, Ang, you're ok." He said, running over to give her a hug.

"Of course you goober, I am. What are you talking about?"

"There's this...weird thing. Like we're under a fishbowl or something. A plane was trying to fly out and all of a sudden, it was spiraling back down. This guy shoved me out of the way. I could be dead."

"Oh. That was the shaking then. I thought it was just another quake." Angie said. Then, as she focused in on what Joe said, she asked, "Wait, like no one can get in or out? What about mom and dad?"

They both pulled out their phones, only to find they had no service. "This can't be good." Joe muttered.

"Nope." Angie agreed. "We should go find them." She was out the door before Joe could stop her. Joe was just going to talk to Peter, when Angie came running back in, "Joe. Come look!"

Joe followed Angie and together they reached the edge of Chester's Mill, where a semi was smashed in the middle of the road. "Looks like you're right." Angie said. "What the hell is this thing?"

"It's a dome." A voice from behind said. Joe knew that voice. He turned around and found the guy who had rescued him.

"And you are?" Angie asked.

Both Joe and the guy spoke at the same time. "He's the guy who rescued me." Joe said, while the guy answered, "I'm Dale Barbara."

"Ok. One at a time." Angie said. "New guy, you first."

"I'm Dale Barbara, but most everyone calls me Barbie."

"And he's the guy who rescued me." Joe finished. 

"Ok, 'Barbie', what are you doing here? I've never seen you in Chester's Mill before." Angie said, skeptical of the man.

"I was here to see Peter Shumway. I had been working with him on a project. Have you seen him? I went his office at the clinic like he told me, but he wasn't there."

"Didn't you hear? Dr. Shumway was found murdered earlier this morning." Joe said. "And I don't remember seeing you at the clinic. I work there."

"I do." Angie said. "I pointed towards Dr. Shumway's office. I never looked up from my computer to see his face though."

"Well, it seems that Dr. Shumway's prediction was along the right lines. He said something was going to happen in Chester's Mill and that was why he needed my help." Barbie said. "I'm going to need more information about the town though, so I can figure out what is going on. Is there a place we can get some food and talk?"

"Rose's Diner." Joe and Angie said in unison.

"Well, lead the way." Barbie said.

 **"Dome Day** occurred on 21 October 2012, when an invisible barrier sealed off the town off Chester's Mill, Maine from the rest of the world. The "Dome," as the United States Army referred to it, appeared at 11:44 AM, and occurred at a magnitude of 2.1 on the Richter scale. Research into determining a way to breach the Dome became known within the military as 'the Dome Project'." Barbie read from the paper.

"There's a few businesses," Joe added, reading, "Jim Rennie's Used Cars; Food City; Mill Gas & Grocery; _Chester's Mill Democrat_ (the newspaper); Burpee's Department Store; Sander's Hometown Drug; Bowie Funeral Home; Mill New  & Used Book, and of course, here, Sweetbriar Rose, or as we locals call it, Rose's." 

"The town is small, having a population of "a couple thousand". There are only 19 paved roads leading in and out of it." Angie finished.

 _What the heck- why Chester's Mill? What was the military thinking?_ Joe, Angie, and Barbie wondered. 

The dome had done the most damage to the town, but in Julia Shumway's life, the dome was just another piece of the worst day of her life. She wasn't sure what was happening yet; all she knew is this stranger was keeping her away from her husband's office at the clinic. That couldn't be good. 

_Peter, what did you do this time?_ Julia wondered, thinking that Peter had just gotten mixed up in the wrong crowd again; Duke Perkins, the local police chief, coming to her door was confirming her suspicions. When he told her she should probably sit down before he told her anything, her gut twisted. This definitely wasn't good.

Of course, she had her suspicions about Peter's "research", but she had never expected him to get killed over it. Now though, she was questioning everything, and wondering if she was next.

"I'm so sorry Julia." Duke said, to which Julia replied, "Thanks." She walked him to the front door and then sat down on the couch. _Where was that flash drive that Peter would never let me see?_

She tore the house apart, looking for it. When she couldn't find it, she headed down to the clinic again, only to have the same stranger keep her from trying to enter.

"Mrs. Shumway, I'm sorry, but I don't think you want to go in there."

"Excuse me, _sir_ , but I think I do. My husband is dead, and I need to get his phone and a flash drive with all his contacts so I can start making arrangements. And who do you think you are anyway?"

"The name's Dale Barbara."

"Wait, you're Barbie?" Julia was taken aback; she had always figured "Barbie" was a girl and Peter was cheating on her. "Sorry, it's just..." she quickly backtracked.

"You thought I was a girl?" Barbie finished the statement. "Hey, I get it. A lot of people do. Can't tell you the number of woman I've had threaten me, thinking I was sleeping with their husbands." Barbie chuckled. "I must say, you woman aren't always sweet and innocent."

"Sorry." Julia looked away.

"It's ok. Now you say you're looking for his phone and a flash drive?"

"Yeah. It has all the people to call, and his funeral arrangement paperwork." Julia answered.

"Peter always planned ahead, didn't he?" Barbie said.

"Yeah. I used to get mad at him for it; I always told him he was being morbid." Julia laughed. "Now, I'm glad he did. It'll make things a lot easier to do."

"Well, Mrs. Shumway, if you need any help, just ask me."

"Please, call me Julia. And I will. Thank you Mr. Barbara."

"Just Barbie."

"Fine. I will let you know if I need help Barbie. Now, will you help me locate the items I need?"

"I'll go get them. This is still technically an active crime scene. My prints are already here; I don't want them to find yours too." Barbie said. "I was the one who found him." he added for clarification when Julia looked at him. "Stay right here. I will be back shortly."

Julia did as she was told, and Barbie was back as quickly as he left. "Here you go. Don't tell anyone I was the one who gave them to you."

"Never." she said. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Julia went back to the house and started working on arrangements. She plugged the flash drive into her computer; to her dismay, only the funeral documents were on there. _He must have hidden it somewhere else. Or maybe I just thought there was a secret flash drive._ Julia thought. When she went to click on the folder, a new folder within the folder popped up.

_Bingo._

Julia clicked on the file. The first thing that popped up was a request for a password. Julia tried Peter's name and then his work login information. When that didn't work, she tried using her own name. To her surprise, it opened the first file. The second file was a little more tricky; she figured it out on the last try before it would have deleted itself. The password that time was "PjS10", which was their initials and the year they got married. With the files cracked open, Julia saved them to her home computer (the one without internet access-it was an ancient gateway computer with windows 98), then went back to making arrangements.

A knock on her door startled Julia out of the trance-like state she was in. She went and answered, finding Barbie standing there. "Oh hey Barbie, what's going on?"

"Can I come in? I don't want to talk about this out in the open." Barbie said. Julia nodded, ushering him into the house. If people wanted to talk, let them talk. It wasn't like there was anything going on between the two of them- Barbie was her (deceased) husband's copartner.

"What's up?" she asked after offering him a cup of coffee, which he gratefully accepted.

"Julia, I don't know how to say this, but Peter...he was involved with some...bad stuff. I think that's why he was killed."

"Oh, what, like the files that I found on his flash drive?" Julia asked. When Barbie's mouth dropped open, she said. "Went to open the paperwork, and this file popped up. I guessed at the passwords-Peter wasn't too good; he always used the same ones- and found them. What the HELL was he looking into?"

Barbie looked around before answering. "Now you see why I didn't want to talk about it outside. Julia, Peter was looking into a CIA plot to drop a dome over a town. The more research he did, the more he realized it was going to be over Chester's Mill. He was visited by Walter Cleaver, who was the leader of the mission. The CIA had determined Peter was too close to finding out the truth, so they had him killed. I'm so sorry."

"So then, these files are true?" Julia asked. She hadn't read them yet, but they looked like something out of a sci-fi novel, not a real-life situation. 

"Yeah. And I'm putting you at risk, just by letting you know they exist. You have to pull all of Peter's info off of that drive and put it back. They're going to come look for it."

"I have a copy saved already of Peter's files." Julia said. "And the other folder is on a computer that isn't connected to the internet, and is an antique." She laughed. "It's got windows 98 on it, and I had to change the file type before saving them. I think I even put encrypting on it."

"Covering our tracks are we?" Barbie couldn't help but be amused. This woman was something else.

"Peter taught me well." Julia answered.

"That he did. I'll take the drive back and then I'll meet you at 7:00 pm tomorrow night to read over the files? Peter said he had found out more, and that he would show me today. Of course when I went there, he was already dead."

"Sure. Come at 6:30 and I'll make dinner." Julia said.

"Sounds like a plan."

“Giana?" Joe called out. Barbie and the little girl made their way to the door. "We're going to the right today, to room 3." Joe said. Once they entered the room, Joe asked, "How's she doing?"

"Amazing." Barbie said as he laid Giana out so Joe could measure her height and head circumference. As Barbie worked on getting Giana undressed, Joe did the intake assessment. "No shots today. Any concerns?"

"No. She's doing well." Barbie said. "Hard to believe she's 9 months old today. It seems like just yesterday she was a little newborn."

"They grow up fast." Joe admitted. That was his favorite part of the job, watching the kids grow up. "Let's see how much you weigh little girl." Barbie placed Giana into the scale. "18 pounds and 3 ounces. You're growing well." He looked at Barbie. "You can wrap her up in a blanket if you want to. Doc should be in shortly."

"Thanks Joe."

Once they were all checked out by the new doctor (Dr. Rickland), and on their way out, Joe cleaned the room. He looked out the window and saw Barbie placing Giana into the car. Joe couldn't help but thinking how hot the guy was doing that. He's a dad I'd totally love to fuck. Joe thought. Angie clearing her throat behind him broke Joe out of his mental daydream.

"Oh honey." she said, shaking her head.

"What?" Joe looked at her.

"Don't you dare what me Joe McAllister. You are totally crushing on that dad, aren't you?" 

Joe felt his cheeks heat up. "So?" Angie knew about him being gay, and she was cool with it. She'd never taken an interest in who he was crushing on before, so why was she starting now?

"Joe, don't you recognize him? He's the one who saved you the day the dome came down last year."

"What? Wait, that's Barbie?" Joe was shocked. He knew the guy looked familiar, but he couldn't place why. Now it was all clicking into place. "But, I thought he left..."

"Well, he's back." Angie said.

"What about Julia?"

"Don't know. Haven't seen her, and I don't ask." Angie said.

"I will next time." Joe said. "I can't believe he's back in Chester's Mill. It seemed like he wanted to get the hell out of here and not look back when the dome was lifted."

“Yeah." Angie said. "But he's here to stay. Or that's what he told me today when he checked Giana in."

"Oh." Joe's mind was racing. What was Barbie doing back? Why was he here? Joe knew he had to ask the next time he saw Barbie. Things had changed in the time since the dome, and Joe was curious as to why now, and why Chester's Mill, especially when Barbie said he'd never come back to "this hellhole of a town".

Fortunately for Joe (unfortunately for Giana), Barbie would be coming back soon.

Joe checked his schedule first thing in the morning. He immediately called Angie. "Giana's coming in? Why?"

"Read the summary dingleberry." Angie teased.

"Uh, Ang? There is no summary. That's why I'm calling."

"Oh." Joe heard Angie rustling some papers. "Sorry. Looks like she had an emergency room visit last night for cold/flu/possible strep throat. Fever spiked to 105 and it wouldn't come down. Let me send you a task with the ER report so you can work on your chart note."

"Thanks." Joe waited for the paperwork. _She seemed fine yesterday. I wonder what happened. Hope she's ok._ Joe kicked himself for the next thought that popped into his brain. _Maybe he didn't say anything because he wanted to come see me again._

 _God, Joe, that was horrible._ Joe immediately thought. There would be no way a parent would withhold information about their child being sick; in fact, most of them were overly concerned and thought all the trivial things were huge mountains.

Joe read through the report and made up his quick note; when Barbie and Giana got there, he whisked them back to the room right away. "Hey, what's going on? I see the little lady here had an ER trip last night."

"Yeah. We got home after the appointment and she was doing great. Then all of a sudden, she spiked a fever and I couldn't get it to go down. I tried everything: cool washcloths, cool bath, Tylenol, ibuprofen, you name it. When I took her temp and it was 105 degrees axillary, I knew I needed to take her to the ER and get her looked at."

"I see." Joe said, typing in everything Barbie had said. "And what did they find in the ER?"

"They said that she might have just gotten a little cold, and gave her some more Tylenol and a ton of fluids. They also swabbed her throat, but said it was negative."

"Yep, that's a strep throat test. Negative is good." Joe reassured Barbie. "And unfortunately, kids get sicker a lot more than us adults do. How is she eating?"

"Better today. She was so lethargic last night. I was so scared."

"I'll bet you were." Joe said, understanding Barbie's concerns and validating them. "That would have been a very stressful situation. Let's get some vitals on her and then the doc will be in to look at her, ok?"

"Ok." After getting everything he needed, Joe started to walk out; Barbie asked him to stop. "Thank you for not thinking I'm some paranoid parent." Barbie said. "It means a lot to be taken seriously."

"You bet. I'll send the doc in. I hope she feels better quickly."

"Me too."

The doctor had just finished with Giana and said that Joe needed to go in and give her one more dose of Tylenol before she could go home. Joe mixed up the correct dose and headed into the room.

Giana slurped down the Tylenol, and as Barbie was latching her into the carrier, Joe finally asked the question that had been on his mind the whole day. "Hey Barbie?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you come back to Chester's Mill?"

Barbie sighed. "It's a long story."

"If you don't want to talk about it, that's ok." Joe quickly added.

"No, I do. Just, not here. Let's do it some other time, ok? We can set up plans when I come back for her check-up in a couple of days, ok?"

"Sure. See you then. Hope she feels better."

"Thanks Joe."

Joe walked out to Angie and gave her the purple slip. "What's that smile for?" Angie asked.

"Nothing."

"Joe McAllister." Angie used her stern "mother" voice, so Joe gave in.

"Fine. I talked to Barbie today."

"Yeah. And? You're grinning like a freaking school girl who has a crush."

"We're going to make plans after she comes back in for her check-up. He's going to tell me why he came back."

"Joe." Angie warned. "I hope you know what you're getting into."

"I'll be careful Ang. I promise."

"Ok."

Giana had been doing really well, and by the time she came back 2 days later, her symptoms were all but resolved. Joe checked them in. "How's she doing today?"

"Much better." Barbie said. "You still need her diaper off, right?"

"Yes please." Joe watched closely as Barbie undressed Giana; he felt his heart do a flip-flop as he heard Barbie cooing to her. Ah man...why does that seem so hot? After they placed her in the scale and got her vitals, Barbie grabbed the purple sheet and wrote a string of numbers on it. "Call me when you get off today, and we'll set up plans for one of your days off, ok?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Joe copied down the numbers, and then scribbled them out on the purple sheet. On his lunch break, Joe shot off a text. _Hey Barbie its Joe. Would Friday after noon sometime work for you?_ It took a minute for the reply to come in, but once it did, Joe couldn't stop smiling.

_Friday at 1 sounds great to me. See you then._

Angie didn't even have to ask this time; Joe automatically told her what was going on. "So, I'll leave from work here and then go meet up with him."

Angie muttered, "I hope you know what you're getting into." under her breath, then responded. "Ok. So if you're not back by 4, where do I come looking?"

"Rose's." Joe said. "I'll let you know if something happens. I'll be ok. It's just Barbie."

"Fine." Angie said. "Come on, let's close up and go home."

"Sounds like a good idea to me."

Friday was finally here, and as he clocked out, Joe got more and more nervous. What if something went wrong between him and Barbie? He'd have to see Barbie whenever Giana had a check-up. Finally (after Joe threw up once), he stopped worrying about what might happen and headed to Rose's.

Barbie was already there when Joe walked in; the look on his face told Joe that Barbie was nervous about this too. Joe grabbed a coke and then came and sat down. "Hey."

"Hi." Barbie said. Joe did his best not to look at the way Barbie's t-shirt fit tightly across his chest, but failed. The guy was ripped and good-looking. "How was work?"

"Oh, you know, the typical Friday."

"Busy as hell, huh?" Barbie laughed. Joe soon found himself laughing, and the two of them starting chatting like old friends. Joe finally asked the question that had been on his mind for what seemed like forever.

"Why'd you come back to Chester's Mill? And why didn't Julia come too?" As soon as Joe said those words, he immediately regretted them; he watched as Barbie's face contorted into a mix of a grimace and a frown. "I mean..."

"No, Joe, it's ok. I gotta be ok with talking about it at some point." Barbie said, taking a drink of his own soda before continuing. "Let's start with the second question first. Julia didn't come back because...she changed after Giana was born."

"Like post-partum depression?" Joe asked.

"Exactly. To the extreme. I actually had to have her in a psychiatric ward for a short time while we worked on getting her moods/medications straightened out." Barbie looked at the table. "In the end, it really didn't matter." He paused, and when Joe looked at him again, he could see the tears starting to form in Barbie's eyes.

"Wait...are you saying what I think you are?" Joe asked. "Did Julia...?"

"Yes." Barbie said. "I had taken Giana to her four month checkup. When I got home, I found the note. Then I went looking for her. I finally found her in the backyard, in the treehouse we had built together. There was nothing I could do."

"Oh my gosh, Barbie, I'm so sorry."

"Me too." Barbie said, pausing. "Which leads me to why I came back to Chester's Mill. I had to get away from there. And the only place I could think of where I could lead a 'normal' life was here. So here I am." Barbie finished, looking at Joe.

"Makes sense." Joe agreed. Chester's Mill was a nice place to live (save Big Jim Rennie, but that was another story for another day).

"What about you? You've changed a lot since the last time I saw you." Barbie said.

Joe wasn't one to brag about himself, let alone talk about himself. "I, uh...went to nursing school after I graduated and work here. That's about it."

"What about you and Nori?"

"We ended it when she left for college. I refused to leave. Last I heard, she graduated and came back home. She's a sales clerk at the local store."

"I see." The conversation dulled for a bit, and then Barbie finally said, "I should get home to Giana. She's not usually left with the babysitter for this long. And you're probably tired from work."

"Yeah I am." Joe admitted. "But, I'd like to do this again sometime, if you do."

"Yeah, I'd like that." Barbie agreed.

"Next time, maybe you can bring Giana?" Joe suggested.

"That would be kind of cool." Barbie said. "Maybe next Friday?"

"Sounds like a plan. Text me details on Thursday?"

"You got it. Later Joe."

"See you Barbie."

Joe walked home, feeling better than he had in a long time. Suddenly, staying in Chester's Mill seemed like a good idea after all.

The work week flew by, and before Joe knew it, it was Thursday. He got off work at 5:30 and found the text waiting from Barbie.

_Mill City Park 2:00 PM._

_Be there. :)_ Joe texted back.

Friday was another rough day (why they double booked an already busy schedule, Joe would never know), but as exhausted as he was, Joe headed to the park.

Barbie was laying there on the blanket, playing with Giana and making faces at her. Joe snapped a couple of quick pictures before announcing his presence. "Look at that beautiful girl."

"Joe. Hey." Barbie said, sitting up and making room for Joe on the blanket. "Have a seat."

"Thanks." They sat down, and that's when Joe noticed the picnic basket. "You brought food?" he asked, deliberately leaving off the "I love you" that he knew would have followed.

"Yeah. Figured you would be hungry after work. It's not much; it's just water and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches." Barbie said, ducking his head like he was...embarrassed? Ashamed?

"It's perfect." Joe said. They ate in silence, and then Joe finally started to talk. "That was amazing. Thank you."

"You bet. Anytime." Barbie said.

Joe wasn't quite sure how it happened, but he must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, Barbie was waking him up. Joe said up, rubbing his eyes. "Uh, what?"

"Your phone was ringing. It was Angie, so I answered and told her you were with me and Giana in the park. I hope that was ok."

"Yeah. Sure." As Joe became more alert, he realized he had been sleeping with his head in Barbie's lap. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You were really tired. I should be sorry for asking you to come after work."

"No. If I didn't feel like it, I would have said something. I should probably get home, before Angie sends out a search party." Joe laughed. "I'll see you soon?"

"Yeah." Barbie said.

Joe walked home, ready for the interrogation he knew Angie was going to give him.

Angie was waiting at the kitchen table when Joe got in. "And just how did it go?"

"Good." Joe said.

"Must've went well if you fell asleep and he answered your phone."

"Ang, look.” Joe started, only to have Angie cut him off.

"It's cool Joe. He told me that you guys had been talking, and then you crashed out. He seemed ok with it all. I could hear Giana giggling in the background, and he whispered, 'Shh...don't wake Joe up.' He cares about you Joe."

"Yeah. And I made a real good first impression, didn't I? Falling asleep?" Joe said. "I'd be lucky if he even talks to me when Giana comes in for her next check-up."

"I'll bet he will." Angie said, leaving out the information Barbie and her had shared in strictest confidence. "Why don't you go take a nap, and I'll wake you up when it's dinner."

"Thanks. You're the best." Joe went and laid down on the couch, and closed his eyes. The next thing he knew, Angie was waking him up.

"You talk in your sleep, you know that right?" she asked as they sat down at the table. 

"I do?" Joe replied. _Oh crap_. 

"Yep." she said, but left it at that. "I made your favorite meal of mashed potatoes, gravy, and corn on the cob. And if you're still hungry after that, there's chocolate cake for dessert."

"Thanks Angie." Joe said. They spent dinner talking about things from their childhood, and when they were done, Joe offered to do the dishes. "Take a break Ang. You earned it."

"Thank you Joe."

They went to bed that night, and Joe couldn't help but think there was something that Angie wasn't telling him. Oh well, he'd ask her in the morning.

The next day, it was back to work as normal, neither one of them spoke anything of the day before. Joe made his way through the day, wondering what Barbie was up to. Finally, at the end of the day, Joe shot off a text to Barbie. _Hey. Hope you had a great day_.

It took about a half hour, but then the text came back. _I did. Hope yours was good as well._

Joe wasn't sure why, but that made him grin like an idiot. He went to bed that night with a grin on his face. 

In the morning, as Joe got ready to go for his morning run, another text came in. _Hey. Just wishing you a good day at work_. This one was from an unlisted number, but Joe had a sneaking suspicion it was Barbie. He made it through the day with a smile on his face, even when the one baby puked on him. He got home and was making dinner for himself and Angie when he decided to send off the text. _Hey. It's Joe. There's plenty of food if you and Giana want to come over for dinner._ He waited for a reply.

There was no reply, so he and Angie sat down and ate. There was still no reply when Joe went to bed, so he didn't think anything of it. Barbie had his own life after all. 

In the morning, there were two texts in his inbox. Both were from Barbie's number. _Hey. Sorry I missed it._ and then _Let me make it up to you. Dinner at my place tonight_? Joe had to reread the second text a couple of times before he hit reply. _Sounds good_. As he bounded down the stairs, he yelled to Angie. "I'm going to Barbie's after work tonight."

"Ok, just be careful." Angie said. She was grateful Joe couldn't see her face; it was split in half with a grin. Those two were finally getting their shit together. It was about damn time.

The work day seemed to drag on for a long time; Joe thought he'd never get out of there. He sent Barbie a text. _On my way, just stuck at work. Shouldn't be much longer._

 _Ok. See you soon._

When Joe was finally done, he took off in the direction of Barbie's house (thank goodness he had looked at the chart to see where Barbie lived; it would have been embarrassing to have to ask for directions). He knocked on the door and waited for Barbie to answer.

When Barbie finally answered, Giana was on his hip. Joe had to keep his mouth closed; if he would have spoken, he would've said something about how hot Barbie looked like that.

"Joe. Hey. Come on in." Barbie said. "I was just finishing up dinner." Barbie went to put Giana back down in her playpen. She started bawling. The minute Barbie picked her up, she stopped. "Ok. Daddy's got to finish making dinner." Barbie said as he tried to put her down again. She wailed louder this time. Barbie looked confused. This wasn't part of his plan to make this dinner for Joe.

Joe cleared his throat. "I can hold her if you want." He looked at Barbie. "If that's ok, I mean."

"Sure." Barbie handed Giana over; the little girl cried for a second, but as soon as she realized that someone was holding her, she quickly calmed down.

"Thanks." Barbie said.

"You bet." Joe said.

Barbie kept one eye on the food; his other one was on Joe with Giana. That was a sight Barbie could get used to every morning. _Whoa. One step at a time_. Barbie thought.

Barbie finished up with dinner; he set the table and then called to Joe. "Joe, dinner's ready."

"Ok." Joe's response was mostly a whisper; when Barbie went into the living room to investigate, he found out why.

Giana was sound asleep in Joe's arms; Joe looked like he didn't want to move for fear of waking her up. Barbie stepped in. "Ok. Here we go." He said as he slid his arms under Joe's and got ahold of Giana. He swiftly moved her to her crib and laid her down; she didn't wake up or even fuss.

"Come on." Barbie said, holding his hand out for Joe. "Dinner's ready in the kitchen."

"Alright." Joe took the hand that was offered. If he held on a little longer than was necessary, well there was nothing wrong with that, was there? Besides, Barbie wasn't letting go of Joe's hand either.

Joe looked at the table as he entered the kitchen. Wait, was that... "Mashed potatoes and gravy?" Joe asked, looking over at Barbie. "How did you know..."

Barbie's cheeks turned a light pink. "I might have asked Angie." he admitted. "I wanted to make this perfect."

"It would have been perfect no matter what, because you made it." Joe knew it sounded a little sappy, but it was the truth.

"Sit down." Barbie said. Joe did as he was told.

"Now that we're both wide awake and able to carry on a conversation." Barbie joked, secretly liking the way Joe's cheeks turned red with embarrassment, "Let's have a real meal and talk about whatever the hell we want to."

"Ok." Joe said. He seemed to think for a minute before asking the question that was burning a hole in his brain. "Why Chester's Mill? Why did you come back here?"

Barbie looked right at Joe when he answered. "Good memories and good people. I knew I wanted my daughter to grow up somewhere where everyone cares about one another. And I missed the people here. I liked them; it was Julia who wanted to leave." He looked back towards the crib where Giana was sleeping. "It was all for her." Joe nodded in agreement.

"Ok. My turn." Barbie said. "Why'd you choose pediatrics?"

"I always knew I wanted to help people. First, I wanted to be a teacher, then it was a doctor. I even thought I wanted to be a lawyer at age 10. But I broke my arm falling out of the old oak tree at age 11 and ended up in the Emergency Room. Freddie, my nurse, had been so kind and compassionate, and then I thought _"This is what I want to do. I want to help people get better and be there by their side."_ Dad was skeptical at first, thinking it was just the side effects of the medication. Once he realized I was serious about nursing, he reluctantly accepted my decision. Momma had died the year before, so I couldn't ask her, and Angie, she was always on my side.

I wasn't big on pediatrics, but there was an interview at the pediatric clinic. I interviewed, and was offered the job the same day. I love the kids I work with; the parents, not so much sometimes. I love watching the kids grow up right in front of my eyes. I still hate doing the immunizations though. My favorite part is the smiles the kids give me. I love helping fix their "boo boos" too."

"Wow." Barbie said. "That's a pretty impressive reason."

"Yeah." Joe admitted. "It's really grown on me. I don't think I could see myself doing any other kind of nursing."

Barbie looked at Joe for a minute. "So, what else do you like to do for fun?"

"I like to write poems and I also make my own mandala designs."

"Mandalas?" Barbie asked.

"I can show you after dinner if you want." Joe said. "They're so much easier to show than try to explain."

"Sure." Barbie said.

"Ok. What do you like to do for fun?" Joe asked.

"Well, now it's mostly play with Giana or sleep." Barbie laughed. "But I always liked to play paintball or go dirt-bike racing. Sometimes, it was marathon TV days."

"What shows?" Joe asked.

"I really like NitroCircus and Sons of Anarchy." Barbie said. "Throw in the occasional LOST marathon too."

"Wow. I like SOA too. You're the first person that I've met in Chester's Mill that likes the show besides me." Joe chuckled. "And I also marathon White Collar every now and then."

"Yeah." Barbie agreed. "Now, it's mostly marathons of whatever's on Disney Junior." he laughed. "I think I can sing the 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' song by heart, and I'm not too far behind on 'Doc McStuffins' either."

Joe laughed. "Yep. Welcome to the joys of parenting."

"Hey Joe? Thanks for coming tonight. I really am having a good time."

"Me too." Joe admitted. "This is nice."

"Yeah. Think we should make it a weekly thing?"

"I'm good with it if you are."

"Every Thursday night it is." Barbie said, with a huge grin on his face. "What do you want for dessert?"

Joe had to show great self-restraint to not say "You.", instead he settled for "Jell-O?"

"How did I know you were going to say that? Strawberry, right?" Barbie grinned.

"I'm going to kill Angie." Joe said, laughing. "Yep."

"Here we go." Barbie said, pulling out two dishes with Jell-O in them, which Barbie topped with whipped cream.

Once they finished, and after Joe offered to help clean up the mess (which Barbie declined, with a "thanks, but tonight was about having you as a guest, and guests don't do dishes in my house"), Barbie said, "You were going to show me how to do a mandala?"

"Right." Joe said. "Do you have a piece of printer paper, scissors, and a pen?" Joe asked. When Barbie handed him the items he had asked for, Joe sat down and started to work. "So, first thing I do is make an even triangle fold." Joe said as he folded the paper and then cut off the excess paper. "Then I design on one side. It'll make a mirror image when we're done. This is just going to be a quick design. I've made some really intricate ones." Joe drew some squiggly lines and a few shapes. Then he went over to the light and showed Barbie how to transfer the design onto the blank area.

"And once we open this up, we have one piece of the four needed to make the complete mandala." Joe said. "Then I copy this one three more times, either by tracing it or running it through the copier, and then you turn it a quarter of a turn each time to get the final mandala. If you want, you can come over tomorrow after I get off of work and I can show you one of my completed ones."

"I'd like that." Barbie said. "These are cool. Awesome is probably a better word. You have some real talent."

Joe ducked his head; he wasn't used to compliments. "Ah, it's nothing." he said shyly.

"Well, I think it's awesome." Barbie said. Giana chose that moment to wake up. "Uh oh. Her majesty awakens."

Joe chuckled, and then looked at the clock. "I should probably get going anyway. I gotta go to work in the morning."

"Right. Call me when you're done with work tomorrow, and I'll meet up with you and you can show me your handiwork."

"Sounds good. Night Barbie."

"Night Joe."

Work seemed to drag on the next day; Joe could only assume it was because he was excited about seeing Barbie after work (and not because the doctor's schedule was double-booked and the doctor seemed to be taking forever with each patient). Once he finally got off, he called Barbie.

"Hey, I'll be home in like 20 minutes."

"Ok. We'll meet you there." Barbie sounded so excited, and Joe could hear Giana giggling in the background.

Joe was nervous as he made his way home; this was a big step. He'd never shown anyone else his work (except for his dad and Angie- and that was only because they wondered what he was always working on in the spare bedroom that he would let no one in to).

Barbie was on his front steps when he walked up the walk; Joe was thankful Angie had went out with some of the girls from work; she would never let him live this one down if she knew about it.

"Hey Barbie. Hey little princess." Joe said.

"Hey Joe." Barbie said. Giana babbled something, which Joe took as a hello. "How was work?"

"Long day." Joe admitted. "But good. How was your day?"

"Good. Took Gigi to the park and just lounged around." Barbie said as Joe let them into the house. "Wow, this is a nice place."

"Thanks. Angie and I have taken good care of it since mom died and dad left last year."

"So it's just you and Angie then?" Barbie asked.

"Yep. Dad got trapped outside on Dome Day. Once it was lifted, he came back in long enough to get some of his things, and then he was gone again; he told us he'd made a new life on the 'outside' and it was better than his life in Chester's Mill had ever been." Joe said.

"Wow." Barbie wasn't sure what to say.

"It is what it is." Joe said. "My 'studio' is this way." He pointed down the hall.

Giana babbled, and held her arms out to Joe. "You wanna hold her?" Barbie asked.

"Is it ok?" Joe asked.

"Sure." Barbie said, handing over the girl. She immediately rested her head on Joe's shoulder and settled in, just like she belonged there. Barbie felt his heartstrings tug just a little tighter.

Joe opened the door. "This is where I spend a lot of my free time." he admitted. "I love doing this kind of stuff."

Barbie stared in awe at all the amazing art mandalas in front of him. Joe was seriously gifted. "They're amazing."

Joe ducked his head; he wasn't used to this admiration. He wasn't really embarrassed; he just wasn't used to being the center of attention. "You think so? It's nothing special really."

"I think they are awesome."" Barbie said. "You will teach me how to do that, won't you?"

"If you want to learn, sure." Joe said. 

"Ok." Barbie said, taking Giana from Joe as she started to get extremely fussy. "I know, you're hungry." Barbie said. "We'll go home in a bit."

"She can eat here if you want to." Joe said. "I think there's some applesauce in the fridge."

"Are you sure?" Barbie asked. "She can wait until she goes home."

"It's cool." Joe said. "Sides, I was going to eat anyway. You want something?"

"Sure." Barbie said. "What can I help with?"

"You can sit down and relax." Joe said. "It's not too hard to reheat the soup."

"Ok. If I can help, let me know."

"I will." Joe said.

Joe made quick work of reheating the soup for him and Barbie, and also got Giana some applesauce. As they ate, Joe said, "I'm really glad you came. It was nice."

"Yeah, it was." Barbie agreed. "Thanks for inviting me."

Giana quickly fell asleep; they placed her on a blanket in the middle of the living room floor, and Joe went and got his stuff to design the mandalas. Barbie watched as Joe set everything up.

"Ok, master, teach me." Barbie said, liking the way Joe's cheeks flushed at the attention being lavished on him. 

"All... Alright." Joe said. He shook his head and then refocused and looked straight at Barbie. "Ok. Remember how I told you to fold the paper?"

"Yep." Barbie said as he folded the paper and cut off the extra like Joe had told him to do. He looked at Joe for what to do next.

"Ok. Grab your pencil and then grab whatever stencil you want to start with." Joe said. While Barbie did that, Joe folded a piece of paper himself and got ready to do one. When they were ready to go, Joe showed Barbie how to draw the design. "Remember, this is only half of the finished design. If you want the full design on the finished product, you have to only do half of the stencil. Otherwise, you will have two designs, which are mirror images of each other."

"Right." Barbie started to draw; Joe watched as he took on a look of concentration, like nothing else was going on around them. Joe started his own, making sure Barbie wasn't seeing what he was doing (this one was going to either be for Barbie or Giana; Joe wasn't quite sure yet).

It seemed like minutes (when in reality, it had been a half-hour), and Barbie was saying, "Ok. Now, since the first side is done, I turn it over and transfer the design onto the blank side of the page, right?"

"Right." Joe said. "I usually use a light behind it or tape it in the window, so I can see the lines better."

Joe watched Barbie trace the second side, and then asked, "Do you want to copy those by hand or on the copy machine?"

Barbie laughed. "I'm gonna take the easy way for the first one and do the copy machine." After they had made the copies, Joe said, "Ok, now we transfer it onto poster board so when you're ready, you can color it. It makes a cleaner finished project."

"Sounds good." Barbie said as he taped the paper copy on a piece of poster board and then flipped them around so he could trace again. Joe watched and worked on his own mandala (the first draft; he'd change it a little before he decided to make it for them- maybe soften the angles of the lines or something). Joe also checked on Giana, who was sleeping soundly on the floor.

"Ok. It's all done." Barbie said. Joe looked up and looked at Barbie's mandala; it was amazing (and Joe wasn't just saying that; Barbie had made designs within designs, and it looked fricking awesome). 

"Do you want to color it tonight or later on?" Joe asked.

"I'll do it later." Barbie said. "Actually, I'll take it home and then bring it back so we can finish it if that's ok."

"That sounds like a plan." Joe said.

Barbie sat down the poster board and picked up Giana and put her on his shoulder. Then he picked up the poster board with his free hand. "I'll call you when I'm done with it?"

"Ok." Joe said. "Have fun with it."

"Thanks Joe. Have a good day at work tomorrow, and we'll see you sometime soon?"

"Yeah." Joe said. 

He had just finished cleaning up everything when Angie came home. "So?" she asked the minute she hit the door. "How did it go?"

"Good." Joe said. "I taught him how to do a mandala." When Angie looked at him, Joe said, "He asked me to teach him."

Angie smiled. "He's got it bad for you. Why can't you two figure your shit out and just get together already? You are like high schoolers in love."

"Hey!" Joe said, laughing. "Ok, maybe you have a point."

"Of course I do." Angie said, smiling. "Sisters always know best."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Do not." Joe said. "We just know each other too well."

"That is true." Angie laughed. 

"Night Angie." Joe said. "See you in the morning."

"Night Joe. See you tomorrow."

Joe fell asleep; his dreams were full of him, Barbie, and Giana doing "family"-like things. _I gotta get this thing figured out- and fast; before I screw it up_.

Joe made it through the next day at work with no difficulties (it was Friday, which only meant a half day, and he was with one of the nurse practitioners, who was always close to on time). Once he got home, he went to his "secret room" and got to work on his mandala for Barbie and Giana.

He was startled by his cell phone ringing in the room; the sound seemed to reverberate off of the walls. He quickly answered. "Hello?"

"Hey Joe, it's Barbie. How are things?"

"Good. You already finished with coloring that mandala?"

"Er...no. Actually, I was wanting to know if you wanted to come out tonight to a movie with me. One of the neighbor girls is going to watch Giana, and I...really don't want to go alone." Barbie finished.

"Sure. What time?"

"Uh, 6:30 work for you?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Joe said, trying to keep from asking, "Is this a date?"

"Ok. Cool. I'll pick you up at around 6:00. We can go get something to eat before the movie."

"Ok. See you then." Joe said. He hung up and then made his way down the stairs to the living room, where Angie was sitting watching the TV.

"You don't need to worry about making dinner for me tonight. Barbie and I are going to a movie and we're going to eat dinner before we go."

"Ok." Angie said automatically. Then, as if a lightbulb went off, she said. "Wait, did you say you and Barbie are going to dinner and a movie? Like a date?"

"It's not a date, but yeah." Joe said. Then, the more he thought about it, the more obvious it seemed. "Oh my gosh, it's a date, isn't it?"

"Sounds like it to me." Angie said. "But, there's nothing wrong with that. You know I love you, no matter what."

"Yeah." Joe said. "I..." he stopped. How did he come right out and say he was gay? "Ang, I...I uh, I like guys."

Angie laughed. "I kinda figured that out a long time ago sweetie." She smiled. "But it's cool. Just, nothing in front of me, ok? I'd say the same thing if you were with a girl."

"Thanks Angie." Joe said. "I've got an hour. Gonna go shower and get ready. Let me know when he gets here, ok?"

"Sure thing."

Joe hurriedly took a shower, and washed all the grime of the day (and the color streaks from the markers from the mandala project) off; he struggled with what to wear for a few minutes, before deciding on his favorite pair of blue jeans (which, if he was completely honest, hugged his ass just right), and his cleanest t-shirt (which was just a plain old white one), and his zip-up hoodie. He had just finished brushing his teeth when Angie yelled up the stairs. "Joe! He's pulling into the drive."

"Be right there!" Joe yelled back. He took one last look in the mirror and headed downstairs, where Barbie (and Angie) were waiting for him.

"Hey Barbie." Joe said when he came downstairs, relieved that Barbie was too in a tee and jeans, with a jacket draped over his arm. 

"Hey Joe. Ready to go?" Barbie asked. When Joe nodded yes, Barbie looked at Angie. "I'll have him back at a decent hour. I promise."

"Have fun you two." Angie said. "Just don't go and get arrested, ok? I really don't want to have to come bail you guys out."

"We won't. We swear." Joe and Barbie said in unison. 

"See you later." With that, they were gone, and Angie was all alone in the house. "I really hope they get this figured out quick." she said to the empty room. "I'm not sure how much more darting around the issue I can take. If worse comes to worse, I'll set them up myself."

In the car, it was silent for the first couple blocks. Then Joe finally blurted out what was on his mind (without really meaning to). "Is this a date?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could take them back; especially when he saw Barbie's hands grip the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were white.

"Uh." Barbie said, eyes focused straight ahead.

"There's nothing wrong with it if it is." Joe quickly added.

Barbie relaxed a little bit. "Well, it wasn't initially intended to be a date, but, yeah, I guess it is. I want to get to know you better. You seem really interesting, and..." Barbie trailed off. "Ok, I'm not good with these kind of things." he laughed nervously.

"Me either." Joe said, chuckling himself. "Let's take it one day at a time, ok? One thing at a time. We can fumble through whatever 'this' is." Joe looked over at Barbie, who glanced sideways at Joe. "Let's just say tonight is two friends going to a movie."

"Sounds good to me." Barbie agreed. "It will go where it will from there."

"Yep." They made small talk the rest of the way to the restaurant (not Rose's, but Mac's, which had some amazing macaroni salad and a cucumber, tomato, and onion salad that was to die for). After dinner, they headed to the movie theater, where they each bought their own tickets. They ended up in the back row (more out of habit for Barbie; he was so used to having Giana with him, and the back always meant an easy escape when she started getting fussy), and enjoyed the movie. At the end, they stayed until the screen went black.

On the way out to the car, Barbie said, "I had a really good time tonight Joe. Thanks for coming with me."

"Thank you for inviting me. That was fun." Joe agreed. "We should do it again sometime."

"Yeah." Barbie smiled. "I'd like that."

"Me too." Joe looked at his watch. "The night is still young. We've got at least two hours before I should be home. Do you want to go do something else?"

"Like what?" Barbie asked.

"Oh, I don't know." Joe said, with a twinkle in his eye. "Nothing illegal though. Remember, we promised Angie."

"That we did." Barbie agreed. He thought for a minute, then said, "Wanna go up to the airport and watch the planes take off and land? There's nothing illegal with that."

"Sounds fun." Joe said.

When they got to the car, Barbie came around to the passenger side and opened the door for Joe. "Your majesty." Barbie ushered.

Joe laughed as he sat down. "Thank you Prince Charming."

They made their way out to the airport; once they parked in one of the clearings in the parking lot, Barbie came and opened the door again. When Joe asked what was going on, Barbie said, "We can sit on the hood and see better."

"Ok." Joe said. He followed Barbie up to the front of the car, where he sat down on the hood. Barbie sat down beside him. Together, they watched the planes fly in and out of the Chester's Mill Airport; in between planes landing or taking off, they talked a little bit about themselves. By the end of the night, they felt like they were getting to know each other pretty well.

As Barbie dropped Joe off, he said, "I had a lot of fun tonight. Thank you for everything."

"Thank you for inviting me." Joe said. "I had a lot of fun too. We should do it again some time."

"Yeah, we should." Barbie agreed. He walked Joe up to the front door. "I'll see you on Tuesday, when Giana comes in for her check-up on her illness."

"Yeah. See you then." Joe said. He was waiting for Barbie to lean in and give him a goodnight kiss; Barbie just gave him a quick hug (which was still amazing) and then walked back to his car. Joe walked into the house, and heard Barbie pull away.

Angie was there on the couch in her pajamas; she immediately asked, "So? How'd it go?"

Joe laughed. "Let me change clothes, and then I'll tell you."

"Well, hurry up." Angie said.

Joe quickly changed into some sweatpants and a looser tee shirt; he came back down and got a glass of water and sat down on the couch by Angie. "It was so much fun." Joe gushed. "We went and had a nice dinner at Mac's, then we went to the movie, and then went out to the airport and watched planes land. We also talked a lot."

"Have a good time then?" Angie laughed. "I told you you should get out more often."

"Oh, be quiet." Joe laughed. "But, yes, I had an awesome time. We talked about doing it again sometime in the near future."

"Well, I'm glad. He seems really nice." Angie said, looking straight at Joe. Then, her brow furrowed. "But, Joe, he has a kid. Are you sure you're ready for that kind of responsibility? It's not something that you can just get away from. Once you're with him, you're with her too. You'd be like a second parent."

"One thing at a time." Joe said. "We talked about it, and we're going to take it really slow. I haven't even thought that far ahead yet. We're just friends right now, and we said we'd see where it goes."

"You need to think about it." Angie reiterated. "It's not a quick decision. It's a big commitment. Just, start thinking about it a little, ok?" she said. "I don't want any of you getting hurt, but especially Giana. She's the innocent one in the situation. She doesn't have a say in what happens."

"I know." Joe said. He didn't say that he'd been thinking about the responsibility of being with Barbie and Giana since the first time he'd seen Barbie back in Chester's Mill. "I will think about it." he promised. "Starting tomorrow. I just want to go to bed now. I'm exhausted." he laughed.

"Wore you out, did he?" Angie teased.

"Between that, and work, yeah." Joe said. "I'll see you in the morning?"

"Sure thing. I'll even make waffles." Angie smiled. "Good night Joe."

"Night Angie."

Joe woke up in the morning to the smell of waffles. He padded downstairs and found Angie in front of the waffle maker, humming some song he didn't recognize. He came into the kitchen. "Morning Ang."

"Good morning sunshine." she said, turning around. "And how are we this fine morning?"

"Doing good. How are you?" Joe asked as he made his way over to the coffee pot.

"Awesome." Angie said. She sat the plates of food down on the table. "Breakfast is served."

"Thanks Ang. You're the best." Joe said as he dug into the waffles and scrambled eggs.

"I know." she laughed. "What are your plans for today?"

"Nothing much. Laundry and the weekly room cleaning. Maybe some mandala work if I feel like it. You have any special plans?"

"Nope. Same thing I do every weekend."

"So, gossip with friends and do nothing?" Joe teased.

"Yep." Angie said. "I was thinking, you could invite Barbie over for dinner tonight, if you wanted to."

"Nah. Maybe next Friday?" Joe suggested. "I like out weekend thing, and want to keep it to ourselves for just a little longer. That's the last family 'tradition' we have."

"True." Angie agreed. "Ok. Next Friday sounds good anyway. We don't have to work that day anyway, so we can really make it special."

"I hate you." Joe lamented, but there was a smile tugging at his lips.

"Ah, don't worry Joe. He'll think it's perfect no matter what." Angie said as they finished breakfast. "Now get to work. Laundry and cleaning won't do themselves."

"Yes ma'am."

The whole time Joe was doing things, he couldn't help but wonder what Barbie was up to. Finally, around noon, Joe decided to call Barbie. The call went to voicemail, but Joe didn't think anything of it. He went back to work, and even finished the mandala he'd created for Barbie and Giana.

He was just putting away the supplies when Angie yelled up the stairs at him. "Joe! Phone call."

Joe was a little confused; no one called him on the house line. It was then that Joe realized that he had left his cell phone downstairs. He rushed downstairs to get it. "Hello?"

"Hey Joe." Barbie sounded...different. Joe was just about to ask why when he heard a woman's voice on the end of the line. "Dale? Who is Joe?"

"I'll explain later." Barbie said, whispering a 'help' before he hung up.

Joe was up out of his chair in a flash. "Angie, we need to go to Barbie's, like now. He's in trouble."

"How do you know that?" Angie asked, looking up from painting her toenails.

"He called me and whispered help. There's some woman there too."

"Joe, they might not even be at his house. And it's not a good idea to go running in there. Haven't you paid attention to _Criminal Minds?_ That's always a bad idea."

"But he's in danger." Joe protested.

"Let's take a breath and think this through." Angie said, but it was no use; Joe was already in his car and on his way to Barbie's.

Joe pulled up to the curb by Barbie's house; Barbie's rig was there, but it didn't look like anyone was home. He went and knocked on the door. No one answered, so Joe grabbed the spare key from under the mat (a lucky find really) and opened the door.

It was silent at first; as he listened closer, he could hear Giana crying, Barbie talking in hushed tones, and a woman's voice. Joe knew he couldn't handle this on his own, so he called the police. He knew it sounded dumb, but he had to be sure Barbie was ok.

The police showed up, and Barbie was brought out, with Giana in his arms. The woman was lead out in handcuffs. "This isn't over Dale!" she screamed as the police took her away.

"Ok Mr. Barbara, we're going to need you to go to the station and get your statement, then you'll be free to go." Junior Rennie, the sheriff (since Duke Perkins had a heart attack and died about two months ago; Junior and Linda, the other sheriff, split days) said.

"Thanks." Barbie said, looking at Joe as he was led to the police car. "Come get me from the station please? Give me twenty minutes or so?"

"Sure." Joe said. He went home to grab Angie first (she'd always had a soft spot for Junior).

"I told you he was in trouble." Joe said when he entered the house. "They dragged out some woman in cuffs. She yelled something about it not being over. I'm going to go get him from the station. Wanna come along?"

"Nah." Angie said.

"Junior's there."

"Give me five minutes." Angie flew up to her room, and was back down in a flash (she'd somehow managed to change clothes and do her makeup in that time frame). They headed over to the jail to get Barbie.

"Thank you Joe." Barbie said as he got into the car with Giana. "Your brother is freaking awesome. He saved me." Barbie said as he looked at Angie.

"So they tell me." Angie said, still a little distracted from the attention Junior had given her; they were going out tonight to dinner.

"Who was the lady?" Joe asked.

"Julia's mom. She thinks I can't raise Giana on my own, and that she and her husband deserve to take care of Giana. She's been fighting me since I left, after Julia died. I thought things had changed since I moved to Chester's Mill and was sending her progress of how things were going. Guess not."

"Ah." Joe said. "She seemed...different."

"Oh, she is." Barbie laughed. Giana giggled too. "Hey, since Angie and Junior are going out tonight, do you want to come over and watch a movie or something?"

"Um, ok?" Joe said. Angie nodded at him. "Yeah, sure. I'll come over around 6:00 pm and bring over my famous lasagna?"

"Sounds perfect." Barbie said. "Famous lasagna?" he added after the fact.

"It's to die for." Angie said. "Once you try it, you'll never eat another kind of lasagna again."

"Looking forward to it." Barbie said as they stopped outside his house. Joe made a split-second decision.

"Hey Barbie? Why don't you and Giana come over to my place? That way, if that crazy lady comes back, you won't be here."

"Good idea." Barbie smiled. "See you at 6 Joe."

"See you." Joe smiled back. As they drove away, Joe looked over at Angie. "Don't say it."

"I wasn't going to say a word." Angie said with a straight face, then burst into laughter. "Ok, I was. But that was too cute. I like you two together."

"We'll see where it goes." Joe said. "Now, let's go home, so we can get ready for our respective 'dates'. Please."

When they got home, Angie said, "Oh Joe, you have it bad, don't you?" You'd do anything for Barbie, wouldn't you?"

"Not anything." Joe said. "I still have the sense of right and wrong. He wouldn't get me to commit murder or anything."

"Right." Angie muttered under her breath. "Ok, I call shower first."

"No fair!" Joe said. "You take forever. I'll be out in five minutes tops."

Angie seemed to contemplate the idea for a moment, before she decided to give in. "Fine. You do have a point there. Hurry up. Time is wasting."

From there, everything was a blur; they both were too concerned on getting ready for the 'date' they were going on. Angie took the longest on doing her make-up, Joe's biggest time consumption was spent on deciding what to wear. This was just Barbie, sure, but he still wanted to look nice. Finally, they were both done, and they came downstairs.

"Wow. Ang, you look amazing." Joe said.

"Thanks." Angie said. "You don't look too bad yourself."

They heard the car pull up in the driveway. "It's Junior." Joe said, going to get the door. Junior walked in. "Angie, ready to go?"

"Yes." Angie said, taking the hand that Junior held out. "Joe, be back later on. Remember, not too late, ok?"

"Yeah." Joe said. "Same to you." He looked at Junior. "Take care of her and treat her right, got it?"

"Always." Junior said.

Joe watched them leave, and waited for Barbie to show up. They had settled on 6:00 pm, so Joe wasn't too concerned when Barbie wasn't right there. The later it got, he got a little more worried. At 6:30, Barbie still hadn't shown up, so Joe made a quick call to his cell phone, which again went to voicemail. Joe was getting a little more anxious each minute that passed and Barbie wasn't there. Finally, he called the cell phone one more time. Once he got the message machine again, he left a message. "I'm coming over to see if you're ok. If you get to my house and I'm not there, wait for me to come back. Will see you soon."

Joe got into his car and drove over to Barbie's house. The car was in the driveway; but the house was dark. Joe felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up; something wasn't right here. He tried calling the phone again; he could hear it ringing in the house somewhere. Joe looked for the spare key, it wasn't where it was earlier this morning. But that could be expected- Barbie wouldn't want anyone else to know where it was, especially Julia's mom. Joe did some searching and finally found it in the flower pot by the step. He turned the lock and yelled into the house. "Barbie? You here?"

The only sound he heard in response was dead silence, mixed in with the refrigerator running. Joe was getting more and more nervous each second he was in here; he finally had enough and left the house, hiding the key in the flower pot on the other side of the step. This was just weird all the way around. Something wasn't quite right, but Joe wasn't sure what it was.

Joe drove home, where he watched some mindless TV (he settled on a marathon of Hawaii Five-O), and waited for Angie to get home. He kept checking his phone every few minutes to see if Barbie had messaged him back; the disappointment grew each time there was no new message. He eventually gave up on looking, to save himself the feeling of sadness it gave him.

Finally, Angie walked through the door. "Hey. Didn't think you'd still be up? Where's Barbie and Giana? Did they already go home?"

"They never showed up." Joe said, deflated. "I tried to call, and got no answer. I went over, and the house was dark, but his car was there. I got a weird feeling, so I left."

"Oh Joe." Angie said. "Let me go change, then we'll talk about this over a big bowl of ice cream."

Joe smiled. "Yeah. That would be nice." Angie always knew what would make a bad day a little better.

Angie looked at Joe as she brought in the two bowls of ice cream. "So, let me get this straight. You tried calling and got no answer, and tried going over there?"

"Yep." Joe said. "When I got there, the house was pitch black, but his car was there. I tried calling his phone again; I could hear it ringing in the house. I found the spare key and opened the front door. I yelled for them, but there was no answer. The only sound I heard was the fridge. Not even any snoring or Giana crying, like they were asleep. I got that feeling like something was off, so I quickly shut the door and left, hiding the key in a new spot." Joe took a bite of ice cream. "You don't think he's blowing me off, do you?"

"I don't think so." Angie said. "He doesn't seem like that kind of guy." She took a bite of her own ice cream. "He seemed pretty shaken up with what happened today. I think that's got something to do with everything."

"I hope so." Joe said. "Otherwise, he's a dick."

Angie looked at Joe; she'd never heard him talk like that before. "Did you call the cops Joe?"

"No. Why would I? It's not like I have any reason to be in the house. My prints will be all over the key and the doorknob."

"But something's wrong. Let me have Junior do a quick little investigation."

"Ang, no." Joe protested.

"He owes me." Angie said. Joe was going to question her, but she was already on the phone to Junior. "Hey Junior, it's Angie. Yeah, I had a good time too. Look, Barbie wasn't home, but his car was. Based on this morning's issues, can you go make sure he's ok? And Giana too? Yeah. Please. Thank you so much." She hung up and looked at Joe. "Junior's going to do a sweep of the house, ok?"

"Just don't be surprised when they come here and want to arrest me." Joe said.

"We'll get through it." Angie said. "Just breathe and relax. I know it's hard, but just try."

"Ok." Joe said. They sat in silence, eating their ice cream, until Joe asked the question that had been bugging him. "Why does Junior owe you?"

Angie grinned. "He lost a bet that I couldn't take a field sobriety test and pass with my eyes closed, with no alcohol involved." 

"Oh Angie." Joe laughed. "He severely underestimated you. You can pass one of those even when you're intoxicated."

"I know." she smiled. "The date was fun too, before you ask me about it."

Joe felt his good mood slide away a little; he was really looking forward to Barbie and Giana coming over tonight and spending time with them. "I'm glad." Joe said, forcing a smile on to his face. "More ice cream?"

"No thank you." Angie said. Joe took her dish to the sink and got another bowl of ice cream; Ben and Jerry's Chunky Monkey fixed most of life's problems.

Junior finally called back. Angie talked to him for a minute before turning to Joe. "Well, prepare for Chester's Mill's finest to come take you to the police station for questioning. Seems they found the prints, but no Barbie and Giana. Now it's a 'missing persons' investigation. Seeing as you're the last one to see them, you're suspect numero uno."

"Great." Joe said. "I knew it."

"Just tell them the truth." Angie said. "That's all you can do."

"Yeah." Joe said. "I wonder what the hell is going on. Things seemed to change once that lady came today. Barbie was totally different. You don't think he's hiding something, do you?"

"I don't know." Angie said. "Seems kind of weird though that he would run and not take his car or any of their things." Angie paused. "I'm not supposed to say anything, but the gal got out of jail earlier this evening. And they can't find her either."

"I know it's her." Joe said. "I just can't prove it."

"Well, just go with what you DO know." Angie said. "The rest will work out in due time. I'll follow behind you and wait for you, ok?"

"Sure." Joe said as he saw the flashing lights stop in front of the house. "Here we go."

Linda came and knocked on the door. "Joe McAllister, you're under arrest in the missing person case of Dale Barbara and Giana Barbara. I need you to come with me please." She went to grab the handcuffs.

"No handcuffs please." Joe said. "I'll walk out voluntarily if that's ok."

"Sure thing Joe." Linda said. She didn't believe Joe had anything to do with the case; she'd known him since birth and he never seemed to have any violent tendencies. But right now, he was the only lead they had.

Linda turned around to Angie. "Are you coming too?"

"I'll follow in my own car if that's ok." Angie said. "Joe, I'll see you shortly."

"Ok." Joe said, letting himself be led out the door by Linda. This was all kinds of fucked up, but it was what it was. Now Joe could only plead his case and hope the cops believed him.

Once the door was shut and they were on the way to the police station, Linda looked in the mirror at Joe. "Joe? You have nothing to do with this, do you? If you do, I can help you out."

"No, Linda." Joe said. "I went to see why he hadn't shown up when we had agreed to meet tonight. I haven't seen him since this morning."

"Ok." Linda said. "Just had to ask. The Joe McAllister I know wouldn't hurt a fly; I found it hard to believe that you could do something like that."

"I want to find them as bad as you do." Joe said. "Trust me."

They pulled into the police station parking lot. "Ok Joe. Just be honest with the investigators, ok? They're going to try and take everything you say and flip it back around on you. As long as you tell the truth, everything will work out in the end."

Linda led Joe into the station and the interrogation room. Joe immediately felt the eyes of the investigators on him; he allowed himself to be sat down in the chair (and handcuffs placed- per the investigator's orders), and he looked straight at them.

"Joe McAllister?" the one investigator asked. Joe nodded and said, "Yes sir."

"Alright Joe." the other investigator said. "My name is Officer Pennington and my partner is Officer Rodgers. We're with the missing persons unit at the state police. I'm sure you know that we're investigating the mysterious disappearance of Dale Barbara and his daughter Giana from Chester's Mill this afternoon.

"Yes sir." Joe said. "I know."

"You also are aware that you were the last one to see Mr. Barbara and his daughter?" Officer Rodgers asked.

"No, I was not aware of that. I know I saw him and his daughter earlier today after he called me to come get him from the Chester's Mill County Jail." Joe said. "I dropped him off at his house, and that was the last time I saw him."

"And what time was that?" Officer Pennington asked, jotting down notes.

"I believe around 12:30 this afternoon." Joe said. "I'm not sure of the exact time though."

"That corroborates what the witness told us." Officer Rodgers said.

"Witness?" Joe asked.

"Yes. Sherriff Junior Rennie said that you signed Mr. Barbara out of jail at that approximate time." Officer Rodgers said.

Officer Pennington looked at Joe. "What can you tell us about Mr. Barbara's mental state at the last time you saw him? Did he seem extremely anxious or mentally unstable?"

"No sir." Joe said. "He was concerned though because his mother in law was here and trying to obtain custody of Giana, the little girl." Joe said. "As they took her away in handcuffs to the police car, she yelled something about it not being over. I'm not sure what she meant by that."

"I see." Officer Rodgers said as he scribbled down more notes. "And when was the last time you saw this lady?"

"When I came to get Mr. Barbara from the county jail." Joe said.

"We have phone records." Officer Pennington said, looking at a few pieces of paper in front of him, "that show that you attempted to contact Mr. Barbara several times this evening, starting at 6:15 pm. Why was that?"

Joe felt the sweat start to pool on his brow. "We were going to meet up tonight and watch a movie. That was scheduled at 6 pm. Usually, Mr. Barbara is very punctual. When he did not show up, I gave him a few minutes, before I started to try and find out if there had been a change in plans. He did not return any of my calls or messages, so I headed over to his house. I knocked on the door, and when I got no reply, I found the spare key in the flower pot. I opened the door and yelled out his and his daughters' names but got no reply. So I closed the door and went home, hiding the key in a new spot. I went home and just figured he was asleep or gone for some reason." Joe said. "The next thing I knew, the police were coming to my house and arresting me."

"I see." Officer Pennington said. "And, just what is your relationship with Mr. Barbara?"

"Relationship?" Joe asked. "Oh, like how do I know him?" when Officer Pennington nodded, Joe continued. "I am a nurse at the Pediatric Clinic where he brings his daughter. We were talking one day and started becoming friends. Nothing else."

"I see." Officer Rodgers said. "Don't you think that's a conflict of interest, being the nurse who cares for his daughter and also being his friend?"

“No, sir, I do not." Joe said. "If I did, I would have to quit my job for conflicts of interest, since I know almost anyone and everyone in Chester's Mill."

Officer Pennington looked at Joe. "I see. So you are denying any involvement with the disappearance of Dale Barbara and Giana Barbara?"

"Yes sir, I am. Give me a lie detector if you don't believe me." Joe said.

Officer Rodgers laughed. "I don't think we need to do that son. Just don't leave town, and if we have any further questions, we will be contacting you. You are free to go now. We need to find this mother in law. Seems like she had a vendetta against Mr. Barbara."

Joe walked out of the station, to where Angie was waiting for him. "You good?" Angie asked.

"Yep. Just can't leave town and all that jazz." Joe laughed. "Can we go home now? I just want to go to bed. Maybe if I sleep, I'll wake up in the morning and find out this was all a nightmare from having a lack of sleep the night before."

"Sure Joe." Angie said. They drove home in silence, and Joe was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. In the morning, he woke up and went out to get the Sunday paper. _Not a nightmare. It's real._ Joe thought as he read the headlines. On the inside of the front page, there was an article about Barbie and Giana being missing persons. Thankfully, Joe's name wasn't printed; it just said "a witness" had last seen the two of them at 12:30 according to the authorities. Joe sighed and walked into the house.

"Not a nightmare." Joe said, showing Angie the paper.

"Nope." Angie agreed. "They're going to find them Joe. I know it."

"Alive?" Joe asked.

"I hope so." Angie said. "Come on, let's go to Rose's for breakfast. You need some of her famous buttermilk pancakes."

"Sure." Joe wasn't going to argue; that actually sounded nice.

Breakfast was good. When they got home, Angie was the one to notice the envelope stuck in the door first. She picked it up. "Uh, Joe? It's from you. Looks like Barbie's handwriting. It was postmarked yesterday."

They went inside, where Joe sat down at the table and carefully opened the letter and read it.

"Joe,

It's been awhile since I had the honor of holding you in my arms, and it since we went to the airport and had a good time.

What started out as a sincere friendship turned into a strong bond between two lovers who found out the true meaning of love the hard way. The journey seems so long, sometimes, and at the same time it seems so short. To me it feels like time is purposely bending and stretching itself so that it can play its part in making us feel the joy and pain of what it is to truly be in a long-distance relationship. All I know is, as time goes by, I learn a lot from this love, and I have learned what it is like to give myself completely to another person when the two of us are so far apart. The most important thing I learned, among many important things, was to trust and to be faithful to the one I love.

I enjoyed every single moment with you, and how we talked about all of the things we liked and disliked. I am sitting here in my room and writing this message now, hoping you will get to read it when you come back from work later if you go online, but if not, then at least I know this letter will reach you sooner or later. I know that my life is much happier when you're around me.

I want to let you know that I am so in love with you, and I have learned a lot from this relationship. I promise you that I will do my best to make you feel loved and secure, even though there are thousands of miles between us.

Thank you for making my life so much more meaningful and giving me this chance to tell you what love means to me. Being away from you is so hard for me because it is like giving up a part of my life that is essential to me.

I have built my world around you, and I really like the world that we have built together. I always want to stay in that world and never want to leave it, and I hope that you feel the same way, too.

Now is the hardest part for me to do. I have to say "goodbye" and "goodnight," because I need to go to sleep soon. But I know that as soon as I close my eyes I will be there with you, and it makes me so happy again. I love you with all my heart, and I want you to know that I really miss you. Please take care and have a nice day tomorrow. May you feel me wanting to be with you now, and may I touch your heart and let you feel my love. Take care, Joe, and know that I am sending all my love to you across the miles.

I will call you when I can. Just know, this wasn't anything you did wrong. I will explain everything soon. I promise.

Barbie"

Joe looked at Angie. "Read this." he said, thrusting the letter at her.

She read it and then looked at Joe. "I think you need to show this to the cops. I don't think he wrote it."

"Why?" Joe asked.

"Because, one, it's typed. That could be anyone's doing. And two, you guys hadn't defined anything. You were just starting to get to know each other. I think whoever took Barbie and Giana wrote this to make it look like he chose to leave."

"But, how do you explain him addressing the envelope?" Joe asked.

"Joe, just take everything to the police. Please. They can help determine who wrote the letter."

"Will you go with me?" Joe asked.

"Of course." Angie said.

They went to the police station; Officer Pennington and Officer Rodgers seemed to side with Angie once they read the letter. They sent it to the crime lab to be tested, and Joe anxiously awaited the results.

"Mr. McAllister?" Officer Rodgers called. Joe got up, grabbing Angie on his way into the room for emotional support. This was so nerve wracking. "Have a seat."

Joe did, and the officers started to talk to him. "There is good news and bad news."

"Give me the bad news first." Joe said.

"Mr. Barbara did seal the envelope himself and address it." Officer Pennington said.

"So what's the good news?" Joe asked. It didn't seem like anything good could come out of this.

"He was not the one to write or send it." Officer Rodgers said. "There was a female's DNA on the letter as well, and it is not Angie's. We tested it, and it is a partial match to Giana."

"The mother in law." Joe and Angie said at the same time.

"We believe so." Officer Pennington said. "The program used to type the letter was made in 1991 and is no longer useable on any of the new computers. So this was made on a very old computer. Mr. Barbara did not have any computers in his house, so we can only assume it is from where he is being held captive. Thank you for bringing this in. We will let you know when we have any further questions."

As they walked out, Angie said, "See? There's been a break in the case. They're going to find him Joe."

"I hope they do it fast." Joe said. "I'm not too sure about Julia's mom. She seemed like a basket case and a half when I met her for the first time. Of course, that was just yesterday when she was screaming at Barbie."

"It'll all work out." Angie said. "We just need to go home and let the police do their job, ok?"

"Alright." Joe reluctantly agreed; he wanted to be out there trying to find Barbie and Giana too.

"If you're really nice today, I might call Junior later on and see what they've learned." Angie winked at Joe.

"You'd do that? But he could get in trouble." Joe said.

"Not if I ask the right questions." Angie grinned.

"Angelica McAllister, you are sneaky." Joe grinned. "We'll see how the day goes, ok?"

"Sounds like a plan." Angie said.

Turns out, Angie didn't need to call Junior. He came to their house a couple of hours later on. "Joe? Angie?" Junior asked. "Do you two want to come down to the station?"

"Are we in trouble?" Joe asked.

"No, we just have a couple more questions for you." Junior said. "You can come in your personal vehicle though. You're not under arrest or anything."

"Ok." Joe said, noticing how Junior and Angie shared some sort of look; Joe ignored it and went to grab the car keys. "Can I drive Angie?"

"Sure." Angie said.

Joe got them to the station; Junior ushered them into one of the spare rooms. After what seemed like an eternity (which was only 10 minutes- Joe was watching the clock in the room like a hawk), Officer Pennington and Officer Rodgers came into the room.

"Joe and Angie McAllister, we want to thank you for helping us with this investigation. Your clue today broke the case wide open, and we are happy to say that it is solved." Officer Pennington said.

"You're very welcome." Joe and Angie said.

"Angie, would you come with me for a minute please?" Officer Rodgers said. "We need to get your statement on what happened yesterday morning."

"Sure." Angie looked at Joe. "I'll be back in a little bit."

Joe nodded. Officer Pennington got up as well. "Thank you again. You can wait here until Angie is done."

"Thank you." Joe said. The door closed, and Joe waited for a few minutes. He was looking down when he heard it open. "That was quick Angie." he said, without looking up.

"Joe." Joe's head whipped up. Barbie and Giana were standing right in front of him. Joe shot up out of the chair and rushed over. 

"Oh my gosh. Barbie, Giana, you guys are ok." Joe said, hugging Barbie tightly. "I was so worried." Joe felt the tears start to well up.

"Hey, don't cry. It's ok. We're fine." Barbie said.

"Are you sure you are ok?" Joe asked. "You have been through a lot in the last 24 hours."

"I'm ok. We're ok." Barbie said. "I swear."

Joe looked at Barbie. "If you say so." He looked at Giana, who was sound asleep in Barbie's arms. "What the hell happened?"

"Julia's mother. That's what happened." Barbie said. "That lady is bat shit insane. She took us and took her to her house, the house Julia grew up in. She said that if she couldn't have her daughter back, that I didn't deserve my daughter either. She was going to take Giana away from me and make up some story so I could never get custody of her again." Barbie shuddered. "I can only imagine what she had in mind."

"But you're here now and you're ok." Joe said. "Who cares about her? She'll be going away for a long time."

"Actually, she won't." Barbie said.

"What?!" Joe angrily whispered. "How does she get off with doing all that and not get in trouble."

Barbie actually smiled and chuckled. "Not what I meant." He looked at Joe. "She won't because she's dead."

"Oh." Joe said. "Wait, what? Did you..."

"No." Barbie quickly reassured Joe. "The cops shot her when she attempted to take me as a hostage. Giana was in the other room, and the cops found her first. They got her out safely, and when they came in looking for me, Julia's mom grabbed me and threatened to kill me, just like I 'killed her daughter'. She still blames me for Julia's death." Barbie said. 

Joe had to pause for a moment before he asked the question that was on his mind. "Well, did you have something to do with Julia's death?"

"No, it's like I told you before. " Barbie said. "I came back and she was dead of a suicide. I had only made a mention of thinking about coming back. We hadn't even discussed anything yet." Barbie looked down. "I think she was suffering from some post-partum depression, and that just pushed her over the edge. I still blame myself some days, yeah, but it was her choice, not mine. I never told her to do that."

"I see." Joe said. Giana started to shift awake; once she was all the way awake, she started wailing. "I'm just waiting on Angie to finish giving her statement, then we were heading home. We can drop you off on the way?"

"Sure." Barbie said. He looked at Joe. "I missed you so much. I kept thinking, _what if I never see Joe again?"_

"Hey, I'm here now." Joe said. "I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you."

"No." Barbie said as Joe grabbed Giana from Barbie's arms and started bouncing her around, finally getting her settled down. Barbie looked at Joe. "I'm going to do something right now that might be really stupid." Barbie said, looking at Joe.

"Uh?" Joe barely had time to ask before Barbie was in his space and pressing a kiss to Joe's lips.

Joe was surprised at first; he quickly relaxed though and kissed back a little. They both broke apart and Joe looked at Barbie.

"What was that for?" Joe asked, looking at Barbie. "Not that it wasn't nice or anything like that."

"I missed you and I had to do that, in case I never get another chance to do it." Barbie said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I kind of liked it." Joe grinned. "Just, I think we should get to know each other better first."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." Barbie agreed. "What do you say I take you out to dinner tomorrow night to make up for our plans being ruined last night, and we can take it from there?"

"That would be cool." Joe said. "Is this actually a date this time?" he laughed.

Barbie laughed too. "Yeah, I think it is. I'll see you at 7:00 pm tomorrow night?"

"I'll be waiting." Joe smiled.

Angie was finally done talking to the cops; she came in. "Ok, who's ready to get the heck out of here?"

"Me." Barbie and Joe said. Giana babbled; they took that as her saying "me too".

"Alright. Let's go then." Angie said.

Barbie and Giana got into the back seat of the car; Joe threw Angie the keys and let her drive over to Barbie's house (ok, she basically forced him to give her the keys).

Once they'd dropped off Barbie and Giana, Angie turned and looked at Joe. "Alright, spill. What happened in that room?"

"I'll tell you when we get home." Joe promised.

"You'd better."

"So?" Angie asked once they'd gotten home and settled in on the couch. "What happened?"

"Nothing really. We talked for a few minutes. He promised me he and Giana were fine, and I got to hold Giana for a few."

"Joe? What else happened? You've been grinning like an idiot since you came out of that room."

Joe grinned. "He kissed me."

"About fucking time." Angie said. "And?"

"And" Joe said, "It was freaking awesome. It felt kinda weird though at first, but then I just relaxed, and it felt nice." Joe knew Angie probably really didn't want to hear all this, but oh well. That's what sisters were for, right?

"Well, good." Angie said, her tone confirming that yep, this was not what she wanted to discuss with Joe, but she was being the good sister (plus, she'd done the same with Joe when Junior had kissed her for the first time).

"It felt odd." Joe said. "Like there was something he wanted to say, but couldn't. Or wouldn't."

"Joe, it was probably just strange for him too." Angie said. "Just let things work out on their own, ok? Like you told him, one step at a time, right?"

"Yeah." Joe agreed finally; he couldn't shake the nagging feeling in his stomach that things weren't completely what they seemed. "Well, I should probably be heading to bed, since we have work in the morning."

"Yeah. I'm headed that way myself shortly." Angie agreed." "Night Joe. See you in the morning."

"Night Angie." Joe said as he made his way up to his room. He was out within minutes; the next thing he knew, his alarm was waking him up.

He shuffled to the bathroom, took his shower, and was on his way down to the kitchen to get breakfast when his phone buzzed with the message. _I'm going to bring Giana in today. Something's not right._

Joe felt his stomach clench into a big knot. What was going on with Giana? Shouldn't she be going to the ER instead? Joe remembered that the ER was undergoing a remodel right now, and that the clinic was where all the pediatric patients were supposed to go first.

 _Ok. We open at 8. Be there as soon as you can. We'll get you worked in._ Joe texted back. His gut was telling him something was off, but that it might not be with Giana at all. Joe was just going to have to wait and see what happened.

"Barbie's bringing Giana in first thing this morning. We need to work her in. He said something wasn't right." Joe told Angie as they ate breakfast.

"I'll see what I can do." Angie said. "I think there was an opening at the beginning of the schedule anyway. We'll get it taken care of."

Joe and Angie headed to the clinic; neither one was prepared for what was going to happen when they got there.

Barbie was waiting at the door; he followed Joe and Angie in the minute they opened the front door. Giana looked ok to Joe, but he knew that sometimes, pediatric patients didn't show any signs and symptoms visibly until it was almost too late.

"Let's get her back to Exam 5." Joe said. "What's going on?"

"When we got home last night, she started acting weird. Like she didn't want to eat really or go to bed. She finally fell asleep around 1 am, but kept waking up every 15 minutes. She hasn't thrown up or had diarrhea. In fact, she started taking food really well around 3 am." Barbie said. "She's never done this before and I'm worried."

Joe's fingers flew over the keyboard as he made notes of everything Barbie was saying (he'd have to ask the doctor what template she wanted when he saw her); he could tell the panic that was creeping into Barbie's voice. "Hey, we'll have the doc take a look and figure out what's going on." Joe reassured Barbie. 

"Thanks Joe. I owe you one."

"Just doing my job." Joe said with a smile.

"Would you be willing to watch Giana for a few after you get off? I have a couple of errands to run, and then I'll come get her when I'm done."

"Sure." Joe said. "Just leave her stuff here, and drop her off at around 4:30. Angie can watch her until we close up."

"Thank you Joe." Barbie said, reaching into his bag for a piece of paper. "I just need you sign this piece of paper. It's for the courts, just showing that I have responsible child care if she's out of my sight for more than an hour."

"Ok?" Joe asked. "Why do you have to do that though?"

"Conditions of a settlement with Julia's parents after her death." Barbie said, not going into much detail. Joe wanted to ask, but knew it wasn't his place. If Barbie wanted to say more, he would. Joe couldn't force him to do it.

"Alright." Joe signed the piece of paper, which had the court's logo on it.

He didn't give it a second thought until 4:30 came and Barbie showed up with Giana and her stuff. That seemed like a lot of stuff for just a couple of hours. Barbie and Angie were talking in hushed tones; Joe watched as Angie's eyes widened and she nodded, Joe could tell it was reluctantly though. The hesitation was obvious. Joe got another nurse to cover for him for a minute so he could go out and see Barbie.

"Hey." Joe said, looking at Barbie and Angie. "We good to go?"

"Yeah." Barbie said, and Joe could tell by the tone of voice Barbie was using that something was wrong.

"Barbie?" Joe asked. "What's going on?"

Barbie was just about to tell Joe what was going on when Linda walked through the door. "Dale Barbara, you are under arrest Please come with me."

"Barbie?" Joe looked at Barbie.

"I'm sorry Joe." Barbie said as he let Linda handcuff his hands behind his back. They were walking out the door when Joe turned to Angie, trying not to cry- he was in shock. What the hell was happening?

"Ang?" Joe asked. "What's going on?"

"I'll tell you when we get home." Angie said, looking like she was on the verge of tears herself. Joe tried to concentrate for the last 30 minutes of the day, but it was extremely hard; the only thing he could seem to focus on was Barbie being led out in handcuffs.

They made it through the front door before Joe finally broke down. "Angie?" he asked as he sat Giana down on the floor. "What the hell is going on? Why did Linda arrest Barbie?"

Angie looked at Joe. "They think he's the one who killed Julia's mom. And he's apparently got a warrant out in Zenith for breaking and entering his dad's house."

Joe looked at Angie in disbelief. "No way. Barbie wouldn't have killed her. And, I thought he was estranged from his dad." Joe thought for a minute longer before speaking again. "He told me that the cops killed Julia's mom."

Angie sighed. "Junior told me that she was already dead when they got there. And the ballistics didn't match any of the police weapons."

"No." Joe refused to believe it. This couldn't be happening. Barbie was innocent. He HAD to be. "Barbie didn't do it. He wouldn't have. What about Giana? Why would he do it when he has a little girl to look after?"

"He had a plan." Angie said. "Did you read what you signed today?"

"He said it was a form that he had to have signed because of Julia's mom. It had a court logo on it." Joe said. "I didn't think twice." Joe paused. "Oh my gosh, it was so that I could take care of her in case he went to jail or died, or whatever they call it, wasn't it?" Joe asked. How could he have not read it? Barbie was planning ahead, wasn't he?

Angie nodded. "I think so. I'm going to go to the courthouse and see what I can find out. Will you be ok here with Giana for a few?"

"Yeah." Joe said. "As long as you come back."

"I will. I promise." Angie said, coming over to give Joe a hug. "I'm sorry Joe. I really am."

"Thanks." Joe said. Once Angie was gone, Joe picked up Giana. "Looks like it's just you and me little girl." He cuddled her close. "What did your daddy do?"

Joe was asleep with Giana resting against him when Angie came back home; she quietly went into the kitchen and made dinner, and then came back into the living room to wake up Joe.

"Uh? Oh hey Angie." Joe said as he opened his eyes and found her standing there, with Giana in her arms. Joe felt that weird feeling come back as he remembered everything that had happened. "What did you find out?" he asked as he sat up and rubbed at his eyes.

"Come eat and I'll tell you over dinner." Angie said.

"I talked to Junior" Angie said as they ate. "And he said that he'd look into it, but that he hadn't seen the piece of paper that Linda gave to the clerk that Barbie had on him when he got arraigned.

"Can't he lose his job for that?" Joe asked. "I don't want anyone to get in trouble. It's not that important." _But it really is to me._

"He could, yeah, but he's going to be very careful. He wants to help you out Joe." Angie said. "And it's not just because you're my brother. He likes you as a friend; you know he really doesn't have many friends."

"Yeah." Joe agreed. "Thanks Angie."

"You bet." Angie said. "So, what is our plan going to be with little Miss Giana here? We don't have a crib or bed for her. I mean, Barbie dropped off some of her supplies, but it's not everything she could need."

"I could run over to Barbie's place and get it." Joe said.

"No, I wouldn't do that." Angie said. "They have his place under surveillance." she admitted. "Don't tell anyone I told you that."

"Your secret's safe with me." Joe said. "I guess I could sleep with her on the couch?"

"Ok." Angie agreed. "Until tomorrow, when we can figure something better out." She sighed. "This is going to be weird."

"You're telling me." Joe said. This thing with Barbie better work itself out- and fast. He wasn't sure how long he could do this.

It was a restless night for both Joe and Angie; they were both trying to get used to someone (and that someone being a baby) else being in the house. Joe would just nod off and Giana would wail, either being hungry or needing a diaper change.

Angie made a Starbucks run (a rare treat) in the morning on their way to work; they weren't quite sure what they were going to do for childcare arrangements for Giana, so they brought her to the office, where Angie kept a close eye on her.

After working all day, they headed home, where Angie and Joe worked together on making dinner for both them and Giana. As they ate, Angie filled Joe in on what she'd managed to accomplish during the day.

"Ms. Rebecca said that she would watch Giana during the day for us." Angie said, referring to the high school science teacher who was on maternity leave herself.

"Ok." Joe said. "If she thinks she can handle it. I don't want to rely on people unless we need to."

"I know." Angie agreed. "But, right now, until we get the hang of it, we need all the help we can get. We're not ready to raise a baby Joe, even if we're only doing it temporarily."

"Yeah." Joe said. They continued to eat in silence, feeding Giana bites of the mashed potatoes every now and then- she was really going to town on her Cheerios tonight.

Angie's phone rang. "It's Junior." she said as she answered. "Hey Junior. You're on speakerphone."

"Hey Angie. Joe." Junior said. "Thought I'd fill you in on what I found out."

"Hey Junior." Joe said. "How's it going?"

"I'm good." Junior said. "Like I was saying, I found out some info today. Apparently Barbie's dad dropped the charges against him today, so that arrest warrant is gone now. The thing with Julia's mom is not as cut and dry. Barbie swears he didn't do it. But he's the last one who saw her alive, and she was dead when we found her. Now, there's no evidence that he shot her, but until we find out the truth, he's going to be locked up. I'm sorry." Junior finished.

"What about the paper I signed?" Joe asked.

"That." Junior said, pausing for a minute and ruffling through something (Joe thought it sounded like papers, but he couldn't be sure). "It was a temporary custody permit, granting you complete custody of Giana for the time that Barbie is in jail. He trusts you, Joe. In fact, he wanted to call you, but he'd already made his one phone call to his lawyer."

"Will you tell him everything's ok and Giana's doing good?" Joe asked.

"Sure thing." Junior said. "Angie, can I talk to you alone for a minute?" 

Angie picked up the phone. "Yes Junior?"

"Hey. Just had to hear your voice." Junior said. Angie didn't believe him for a second, and he finally cracked. "Ok. It doesn't look good for Barbie. He's going with a self-defense plea. And you know how Judge Kenny looks at those."

"Crap." Angie said. Judge Kenny only bought one in maybe 300 self-defense pleas. And then, he had to be really swayed. With Barbie's military history and violent past, it wasn't going to be easy. "What can I do to help?"

"Nothing. Please. Joe either. I'm looking into different options, ok? I'll let you know what I can figure out. Just don't tell Joe how bad it is right now. He's got enough going on."

"Yeah." Angie said. She looked at Joe, who was bouncing Giana on his knee and making her giggle. "Let me know. Soon."

"I will." Junior promised. They hung up and Angie turned back to Joe.

"Well?" Joe asked.

"What?" Angie asked, striving to keep a neutral face; she couldn't let Joe how dire things could potentially be. Not yet.

"What did Junior have to talk to you about?"

"Aren't you inquisitive tonight?" Angie laughed. "He just wanted to ask a question about one of the patients we saw yesterday. Apparently their parent ended up in jail last night."

"Oh." Joe let it drop and went back to playing with Giana. Angie breathed a sigh of relief.

Angie waited Joe had went to bed that night before she got online and started looking into self-defense options for homicides. She found an article from somewhere in Wisconsin and started reading, taking notes as she went. Once she felt like she had enough she could work with, she shot Junior an e-mail with everything she'd gathered. Hopefully, that would give him something to give the public defender. 

Angie went up to her room and fell asleep; Giana only woke her up once during the night. In the morning, her and Joe headed to work and their lives continued, just like Giana was a new family member that was staying with them for a "vacation".

They were sitting at home, with Giana sound asleep in the playpen they'd found in the garage, when Joe said, "Barbie said it was self-defense. There's got to be something to help clear him." Joe grabbed his laptop. "I'm gonna help him."

"Ok." Angie said; she couldn't tell him that she had already looked into it and Junior was helping too. 

For the next couple of hours, Joe was immersed in his computer, furiously typing notes and printing them out. "I'll take these to Barbie tomorrow- they should help his lawyer built an iron-clad case."

"Alright." Angie said. She knew Joe was supposed to see Barbie tomorrow; Junior had called earlier that evening and said that they had approved a visit one time only, and that Giana could come too. Joe hadn't been able to stop smiling since that news had come.

Joe headed to bed early; Angie stayed up for another hour or so, and then she too was in bed. They made it through work, and Joe took Giana over to go see Barbie at the Chester's Mill County Jail.

Barbie had more scruff than Joe had remembered. _Of course, he can't have razors in here_ , Joe thought belatedly. He looked really good, considering the situation. Joe didn't miss the way Barbie's eyes brightened the minute he saw the two of them. "Hey Barbie. How you doing?"

"Fine. Bout as good as you could expect in this place." Barbie said, reaching out to hold Giana. She was wary at first, but then she let Barbie hold her and tickle her. "God, I miss her. And you."

 _You should have thought about that before you shot your mother in law._ "We miss you too." _More than you can ever imagine_. Joe shuffled the papers around. "I, uh, found these. They might help you win your case."

"Thanks Joe." Barbie said. "If I don't, it'll be ok. I'll know Giana's in good hands and can visit often. And you'll be bringing her in."

 _But what about me? How am I supposed to be without you?_ "Yes." Joe agreed. "God, I miss you." Joe finally admitted.

"I miss you too. But this will all be sorted out soon. I promise." Barbie said. "You'll be here for the trial, right?"

"If you want me to, sure." Joe said. "Whatever you want, you got it."

The warden signaled to them both, telling them it was time to wrap up the visit. Barbie looked at Joe. "Can I have a kiss before you go? So it'll give me something to make my lonely days better?"

Joe smiled. "Yeah. Sure." They shared a quick kiss, and Barbie hugged Giana tightly, whispering something in her ear before handing her back to Joe. "I'll have them call you when it's close to trial time. Take care."

"You too." Joe said. As he walked out of the jail, he felt less sad than he thought he was going to; Barbie looked like he was doing good. It wouldn't be very long before his case would be headed to trial, and then they'd know more. Right now, Joe was happy to just take it one day at a time.

He stored that kiss away; it would help him on the days that were hard and depressing.

They headed back to the house and settled in for the night, Giana happily splashing around in her bath. Joe could hear Angie snapping pictures, and he suddenly had a brilliant idea.

"Hey Angie?" Joe asked once he'd got Giana settled in and asleep; he could hear her soft breathing over the baby monitor. "Those pictures you took today? Can I have a copy of them? Please?"

"Sure." Angie replied. "I have a feeling you have an idea in mind."

"Sure do." Joe responded. "I was thinking of making a 'baby book' so to speak, of Giana growing up while Barbie's away. That way he can see all of her accomplishments even though he wasn't physically there in the moment."

"That's a great idea." Angie said. "I think it's a really cool idea, even if he's not locked up. That way he will have memories of all the things she's learned along the way. A lot of parents do that."

"Yeah." Joe agreed. "I'm going to head to bed. See you in the morning."

"Night."

Giana slept most all of the night; she only woke up once at around 3 am to be fed, and then she was right back out. They went to work, and after they were done for the day, they headed to the local craft store to get things to make the scrapbook.

Joe wasn't expecting the phone call, but seeing it was the jail, he immediately picked up. "Hello?"

"Hey Joe." Barbie said.

"Hey." Joe said. "Didn't think you got to make calls all the time?"

"Special privilege once a week." Barbie said, laughing. "I just wanted to say thank you for the papers. My lawyer says he's got a pretty good self-defense case started. We'll find out what's going to happen on Monday, when they start the process of deciding if it goes to trial or not. I was hoping you could come? I know you have to work and all."

"I'll see what I can do." Joe said. He knew if he really wanted to, he could go without anyone asking twice; Joe wasn't sure he wanted to go though. He didn't want to know all of the things Barbie was accused of, and if they found him guilty....well, Joe wasn't going to think along those lines yet.

"Ok." Barbie said. "My time's up, but it was good to hear your voice."

"Yeah, it was good to hear yours too." Joe said, smiling. "Maybe I'll try to come visit you sometime this week. Maybe see if they'll let me bring along Giana."

"That would be cool." Barbie agreed. "Talk to you later Joe. I miss you."

"Miss you too Barbie."

Monday was upon him before Joe even knew it; he'd spent time thinking about all of his options, and he decided to go ahead and attend the first day of the "pre-trial" hearing or whatever the heck it was called. Depending on how it went (and if it needed more than one day), Joe would reevaluate things from there.

He wasn't sure what to wear; he ended up in his nice khakis that never got any use (except for funerals or formal functions) and a buttoned polo. He kissed Giana on the forehead and left her with Angie.

The courthouse was eerily quiet when he got there; you could hear a pin drop as Joe entered the building (he'd be lying if he said the door shutting with a loud clang didn't scare the living crap out of him). Joe found his way to the courtroom Barbie was going to be in (Junior was there and showed him the way), and patiently waited for the proceedings to get underway.

Joe's breath caught in his throat when Barbie entered the courtroom in shackles and a yellow jumpsuit (the highest offender level- usually for the murders or abusers), he looked like crap (which Joe kind of expected, but it still didn't make it any easier to see). Barbie looked like he hadn't shaved since he'd been arrested (which was probably the truth), and he looked extremely tired. But Joe watched Barbie perk up a little once he realized Joe had made it and was in the room.

"Mr. Barbara." The judge began the proceedings with a tap of the gavel. "You are on trial for the crime of homicide. And how do you plead?"

"Not guilty your honor." Barbie answered after his attorney whispered something in Barbie's ear. "It was in self-defense." Barbie added.

The judge looked at both benches before continuing. "Given your history in the military Mr. Barbara, I am unfortunately going to have to keep you in jail for everyone's safety. You are in the higher risk group to commit an offense in general. It is nothing personal. No bail will be set, and the defendant is sentenced to be held in the Chester's Mill Jail until his trial commences."

Joe watched Barbie's face fall a little as the judge gave his verdict; Joe's gut twisted a little as well. He had expected this, but that still didn't make it any easier to take.

Junior led Barbie back down to the jail, and Joe left the courtroom. He was almost to the exit of the courthouse when Junior caught up with him. "Joe, wait."

"Hey Junior." Joe said. 

"You didn't hear this from me." Junior whispered, "but if you want to come in tonight at around 7:00 pm, I can take you to see him. I'll be the only guard on duty. I'll text you when it's clear to enter."

"Thanks Junior." Joe said. "But I think I'll just go the legal way and ask for a visit. I don't want him getting in trouble or anything. Or you for that matter. It can wait. He asked me to bring Giana too."

"Ok." Junior said. "And, yeah, legal is probably better. He's being the model prisoner; that should work in his favor." Junior looked at Joe.

"Take care of him?" Joe asked.

"Always." Junior promised. "See you around. Angie invited me over to dinner on Wednesday night; I hope that's ok."

"Sure. Anything in particular you want?"

"Nope." Junior said as his radio crackled. "Gotta go. See you Joe."

"Later Junior."

Joe went home, where he grabbed Giana and cuddled her close. "Your daddy is going to be home real soon." he told her. "I know it. We're going to see him on Monday." Giana cooed, like she understood Joe, and snuggled in closer.

After dinner and Giana's bath, Joe and Angie sat at the table trying to figure everything out for the next week. Joe didn't make a mention that Junior was coming over for dinner when Angie didn't mention it; he didn't want her to know that he'd talked to Junior today.

"I was thinking." Angie said, looking at Joe. "Junior and I can take Giana on Saturday, when he's off, so you can have some time to yourself. You've been doing such a good job, but you need a break too."

"Are you sure?" Joe asked. He couldn't stand the thought of being away from Giana for a long period of a time (besides work). He realized this is what being a parent felt like (since he was basically her daddy right now).

"Yeah." Angie said. "You just had the 'parent epiphany', didn't you?"

"How'd you..."

"I've watched a lot of people get that look Joe. It's ok." she smiled. "It's part of the deal with raising a child, even temporarily."

Joe managed a smile. "Welcome to parenthood, right?" he giggled, remembering the conversations they'd have after work every day about the new parents freaking out about leaving the baby alone with a sitter for the first time.

"Yep." Angie smiled. "You're doing a good job."

"Thanks to you. You're doing awesome too." Joe said, and he meant it. Angie was the one who was keeping him from tearing his hair out over the whole situation.

"Thanks." Angie said. "Come on, ice cream awaits."

"That sounds nice." Joe agreed.

Saturday was there before Joe even realized it; it had been a long week (they had received their flu shot shipment, so now the doctors seemed to think that everyone and their dog needed the flu shot). When he got up at around 10:30 and found Junior sitting on the couch with Angie, Joe was a little confused. Then he remembered that he was supposed to take the day to himself and let Junior and Angie baby sit Giana.

"Morning guys." Joe said, grabbing a cup of coffee and sitting down at the kitchen table. Junior and Angie looked up. "Morning Joe." they replied in unison.

The three of them talked for a bit, until Angie said, "I thought I told you today was your day to get out and be away from all of this for a while. Now go."

"Yes ma'am." Joe teased as he went upstairs to shower and change into some different clothes. Then he was out the door, after giving Giana a kiss goodbye.

 _What to do?_ Joe wondered. There weren't any movies that he was dying to see; he wasn't wanting to go wandering through the mall either. There was a football jamboree for the elementary kids today, but that didn't really interest Joe either.

He ended up wandering around downtown for a bit, and then decided to head to the lake. He loved the scenic view it offered, and it was always so peaceful.

When he got there, it was too chaotic for his liking, so he turned around and left. Joe was running out of options when the sign caught his eye.

 _Scrapbooking Lessons. Free of charge_. Joe looked at the sign again and wrote down the address; the lessons started in 20 minutes, and he could make it there if he hurried. This would be the perfect thing to learn.

Joe found the building without any difficulty, and made it with ten minutes to spare. He went in and registered, getting his free goody bag. He didn't recognize anyone, so he sat in one of the back tables and kept to himself. The instructor came in and they began to learn how to frame pictures, what kind of paper and glue to use, and by the time it was over, Joe felt like he had a good understanding of how to start on the memory book for Barbie.

When he got home, Angie, Junior, and Giana were nowhere to be found; a note on the fridge said that they were out at dinner and should be back in a little bit. Joe took the opportunity of the house being empty to hide his scrapbooking stuff and clean his room. He then sat down on the couch and turned on the college football game of the day (which happened to be Army-Navy; Joe got a chuckle out of that). Army won, and Joe switched over to a music channel.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, Angie was waking him up. "Hey sleepyhead. Have a good day?"'

"Yeah. Just wait until I show you what I learned today."

"Uh Joe, why did you hide the stuff under your bed?" Angie asked.

"I didn't want to have anyone else see it yet." Joe said. "Plus, I wasn't sure that Junior was going to be gone. There's just some things I wanted to keep to myself."

"I get it." Angie said. "So, what was so exciting that you had to hide it?"

"Don't laugh." Joe said as he pulled out the supplies. "I went to a scrapbooking class today. I got some ideas for how to make the memory book we were talking about."

"Cool." Angie said. "Wow, you made this page today?" She asked. "It looks like it would take days to do."

"It wasn't easy." Joe admitted, "But, yeah. There's another class next Saturday, if you want to go."

"I'd love to." she said. "This is awesome looking. I'll bet Barbie will love it, no matter what we do, but we should make it look professional, yeah?"

"Of course." Joe said. "I'm going to take Giana to visit him on Monday; I'll ask him if I can go to the house and see if her old growth sheets are there. We can put those in there too."

"Ok." Angie said. "I'm gonna head to bed. Catch you in the morning."

"Yep. Love you Angie. Night."

"Night Joe."

Monday at work was actually pretty good; Joe took Giana over to the jail after he was done with work. Barbie came into the room, and immediately looked at Joe.

"You brought Giana?" he asked, reaching out for the little girl, who snuffled a bit as she was shuffled between the two men, but immediately settled down and fell asleep in Barbie's arms. "Thanks. But how...?"

"Don't worry bout it." Joe said. "I had a deputy who owed me a favor. So now we're even." They spent some time talking, and then Joe asked, "Do you mind if I go to your house and look to see if Giana's old growth sheets are there? I have an idea."

"They are, and I don't mind. Go to the bookshelf by the TV. There is a book on the second shelf, with green binding. I think it says 'Baby' on it or something. They're all in there." Barbie said. "What are you working on?"

"It's a surprise." Joe said. "But you'll get it soon. I promise." There was a moment's silence, and then Joe asked, "How's the trial prep going?"

"Good." Barbie said. "Lawyer says he's confident I will get acquitted or at least get a reduced sentence. I'd really like it if you would be here for it."

"I'll see what I can do." Joe said, neglecting to mention that he'd gotten the subpoena in the mail today; he didn't want to stress Barbie out. Besides, his lawyer would surely tell Barbie who his character witness was, wouldn't he?

"Thanks." Barbie said. "I know you're tired after work and all, but it was really nice to see you." Barbie said, handing Giana back to Joe. Barbie looked around quickly and then snuck a kiss from Joe. "I miss you."

"Miss you too." Joe said, and he really meant it.

Joe was dreading going to court this morning; he wasn't wanting to testify. Not that he didn't want to clear Barbie, quite the opposite; he didn't want to deal with the prosecutor taking everything he said and turning it around on Joe. And, he didn't want to have to talk about their "relationship" (or whatever it was).

Joe walked into the back of the courtroom and took his seat; when Barbie's lawyer called Joe's name, he made his way up to the front. Joe could tell by the look of Barbie's face that he knew nothing about this. Joe immediately felt a little sorry for Barbie, the poor guy was already dealing with enough. Now they threw his relationship status into the mix.

After getting sworn in, Joe took a deep breath and settled into the uncomfortable chair. He answered all of the defense's questions honestly and thoroughly; he answered all of the district attorney's questions too (well, most of them. There were a couple of objections that meant he didn't have to answer). After they excused him, Joe went out in the hall and called Angie.

"That sucked," Joe said. "I hate this."

"But now you're done and over with it." Angie said. "Are you going to wait for him?"

"No." Joe said. "I don't want to give anyone the idea that there's more going on that what I said there was today. I already left a message with Barbie's lawyer for him to give to Barbie to explain everything." Joe said. "I'm coming back to the clinic."

"Why don't you get Giana and take the rest of the day off?" Angie said. "It's been a long day for you already, and I know your mind isn't really here right now. I already got it cleared."

"Thanks Ang." Joe said. "Be there shortly."

Joe got Giana and they went home, first stopping by Barbie's house to grab the book. Joe found it easily; it was right where Barbie had said it would be.

"Ok babygirl let's go home and chill for a bit. We can look at what your mom and dad made you." Joe said. Giana smiled a gummy smile, and they made their way home. Joe put Giana in her high chair at the kitchen table and sat down by her. He opened the book.

 _"This book belongs to: Giana Marina Barbara"_ Joe read. Giana's name was neatly written, so he figured Julia must have done that part. He turned the page and continued on.

The first page was a picture of Barbie and Julia and information about them; the next one was the day Giana was born. Joe looked at the pictures and was struck with a realization: he couldn't change this. This was the only connection to her mother that Giana had. Joe would make a new one and they could add to it as she grew.

Joe flipped through the pages and found that the last one that Julia (or Barbie for that matter) had filled in. The last full one filled out was Giana's two month visit; Julia had written in the date for Giana's four month visit, but nothing else was filled in. Joe looked in the back part of the book and found all of the sheets from Giana's visits since then.

"Oh baby." Joe said, looking at Giana. "I am so sorry." Giana had no clue what was going on; she just happily munched on the Cheerios Joe had sat down for her.

Joe started looking through all of the scrapbooking things he had bought the other day, and started roughly making the pages to catch up Giana's other visits and milestones. He abruptly shut the book when he heard the door open. He chuckled as he looked at the clock. It was 5:30 pm. Angie was probably just getting home.

"Ang?" Joe called out. There was no answer for a couple of minutes, and then there was a "Yeah?"

"Just making sure it was you and not some weird serial killer." Joe said, grabbing Giana out of her high chair. "Let's go see Aunt Angie." he said without even thinking. _Oh shit_. 

Angie met them in the living room. "How was your day?"

"Long." Joe said. "I hate going to court and being a witness." he laughed. "How was work?"

"Same old same." Angie laughed. "We at least didn't have anyone quit this time when Dr. Pentacelli screamed that his patients came before a walk in shot." 

"Oh. One of those days then." Joe said. It was always like this around flu season time. This was usually when a nurse would get fed up and quit. So far so good then.

"Yep. And Dr. Pentacelli was double booked at the beginning of his day and ended up not getting started until like 1:30 pm. So he was kinda behind to start with, but he had a triple no show, so he got back on track."

"Nice." Joe said. "Giana munched on some Cheerios when we got home, but if you're hungry, I can make us something. I'm not really hungry."

"Me either." Angie said. "I say we call it a munchies for dinner night."

"Sounds good." Joe agreed. "Oh, look at the baby book I found at Barbie's." Joe said, showing it to Angie. "I think we should just make another one. Here's what I got started." Joe pulled out his pages he'd worked on. "What do you think?"

"I like it." Angie said. "And I agree. We can't tear apart the one piece of her mom that Giana has left."

Angie's cell phone rang. "It's Junior. That's weird. I thought he was working tonight." she said as she went into the kitchen to answer it. When she came back out, she looked like she had seen a ghost.

"Angie?" Joe asked. He came over to her and caught her right as she started to faint. 

When she came to, Joe looked at her. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Angie said.

"You got a phone call from Junior and then you fainted." Joe said. "Is everything alright?"

"Oh." Angie said. "That. It was Junior, duh," she giggled. "Anyway, he called to ask me to come to dinner at Hamleigh's. Do you know what that means?"

"Uh, no?" Joe said. "He wants to take you to dinner?"

"Joe, Hamleigh's is a fancy restaurant. It's the one where Big Jim and Pauline got engaged in all those years ago." Angie said.

"Oh." Joe said. "Wait, you think Junior..."

"What else could it be?" she asked. "He keeps dropping hints about a future together."

"I see." Joe said. He only had to keep the secret for the next two days; Junior had called him earlier in the day, before Angie got home and asked if Joe had any objections to them dating and eventually getting married. Joe said no, but that if Junior ever broke Angie's heart, that'd he pay. Junior and Joe had shared a laugh, but Junior knew that Joe wasn't kidding around. "Well, if that's what it is, I'm glad. I like you two together." Joe said. He paused for a moment before adding, "But I'm not sure I'm going to like having a police officer as my brother-in-law." he said, deadpanned.

Angie slapped him square on the chest. "Joe!"

"Kidding. I'm kidding." Joe started laughing. "I really like him Angie. He makes you happy, and that's nice to see."

"Your Prince Charming will be with you soon." Angie said.

"Yeah." Joe said. The trial was supposed to last about a week and a half, and who knew how long the jury would deliberate Barbie's fate. "It needs to hurry up though. I can't take the not knowing."

"I know." Angie said. "It will all work out Joe."

The arguments had finished, and the jury had reached a verdict. Joe was in the courtroom (Junior had called him and said Barbie requested that Joe be present), and he was anxious as he waited for the verdict to be read. After what seemed like forever, the judge asked Barbie to stand as he opened the sealed envelope the jury foreman had given him.

"And in the case of Dale Barbara vs. Chester's Mill, the jury finds the defendant..." the judge looked down at the sheet of paper. "Not guilty by reason of self-defense."

Joe let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. _Yes._ He thought. _Finally something worked out_.

"I order Mr. Barbara to be released immediately from the Chester's Mill Jail." the judge continued. "Now, Mr. Barbara, if I see you in my courtroom again, I will not be as pleasant. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir." Barbie said.

Junior led Barbie out of the courtroom; with a nod of his head, he motioned for Joe to meet him down at the release area.

Joe made his way down there, sending Angie a text. _Not guilty! :)_

_Told you. Tell Junior I'll see him tonight._

_Will do._ Joe waited for Barbie to be officially released. When Barbie saw Joe standing there, he immediately came over and crushed Joe in a hug. "God, I missed you." Barbie said into Joe's hair.

"Missed you too." Joe said. "I got to talk to Junior for a second, and then we'll be ready to go, ok?"

"Alright." Barbie said, taking the keys that Joe threw to him.

Joe talked to Junior for a minute, and then walked over to his car, smiling when he saw Barbie in the passenger seat. Barbie looked like he belonged there.

"Ready?" Joe asked as he got into the driver's seat and started to drive them to Barbie's house.

"Yeah." Barbie said, smiling as he grabbed Joe's hand.

"So, we're going to be alone tonight." Joe said. "Angie and Joe are going out on a date."

"Wait..." Barbie said. "You mean...?"

"Oh yeah." Joe laughed. "I'll have to fill you in on everything you missed."

"Please do." Barbie said. "But, can we go to your house instead?"

"Sure. There's actually a surprise waiting there for you anyway." Joe grinned.

"I like the sound of that."

As they pulled into the drive, Joe smiled.

***

"Are you sure it's ok if we leave Giana with Angie and Junior this weekend?" Joe asked Barbie as they worked on packing the suitcase.

"Yes, Joe. It's Angie. She handled you; I'm sure Giana will be no trouble for her." Barbie said, sneaking a kiss when Joe started to protest.

"But she wasn't pregnant when she had to deal with me. I don't want to send her into pre-term labor or anything."

"Joe, I'm glad you're worrying about her, but it will be ok. Junior will take care of her and make sure nothing happens. And if anything does happen, we'll handle it then. Ok? Just relax, alright?" Barbie said, giving Joe a hug. 

"Yeah. Ok." Joe relaxed into Barbie's embrace.

Barbie gave Giana a kiss on the cheek. "Ok. Be good for Aunt Angie and Uncle Junior, ok? Joe and I will be back before you know it."

"Dada." Giana said, looking at Barbie, then Joe. "Joe."

"Be back soon babygirl." Joe said, tickling Giana's foot. "Love you."

Joe turned to Angie. "Thank you so much. Just call us if it gets to be too much, ok?"

"Joe, it'll be fine." Angie said. "Junior will be here too. Don't worry, ok? You two go enjoy yourself. You deserve it."

"But Angie, I can't..."

"Yes you can Joe."

"Can not."

"Can too."

"Ang..."

"Joe. Go." Angie said, smiling. "I'll call you. I promise."

"Alright." Joe sighed. He'd text Junior before they stopped for the night, and make sure that things were ok; Angie wasn't going to say anything unless it got super bad. And even then, she'd wait until the last minute; she hated to bother anyone.

"Joe, she's going to be fine. Her and Junior can handle it." Barbie reassured Joe.

"Fine." Joe sighed, resigned to the fact that his sister and his boyfriend were ganging up on him. "I guess. If you're sure you're going to be ok Angie."

"I will be. I promise Joe." she said. "And don't text Junior either." she laughed.

"I wasn't going to." Joe protested. How did she know?

"Right." Angie laughed harder. "I know you Joe."

"Alright. I won't." Joe said. "But I will check in every night."

"Fair enough."

"Come on." Barbie said, turning to Joe. "We gotta leave now if we want to miss the rush hour traffic."

"Oh. Right." Joe said. He was starting to have second thoughts about leaving Giana; as much as he wanted it to just be Barbie and him, Giana was a huge part of everything. It was going to be weird without her there.

Barbie and Joe got into the car and drove off, ready to spend the weekend alone for the first time in almost a year and a half. Joe was excited to see what Barbie had planned for them.

After what seemed like an eternity (thanks to the rush hour traffic they hit. Well, it was technically a fender bender that backed up traffic for miles; it took an hour to go 2.1 miles- yes, Joe was counting.), Barbie pulled off the road at a little bed and breakfast. "We're here."

"Wow." Joe said; the place was secluded. The mountains framed the scenery just right, and Joe was amazed at how this was close to the city, yet seemed so far away. "This place is amazing."

"I know, right?" Barbie grinned. "Come on, let's go see our room. I can use a nap after all that tense driving."

Joe followed Barbie after getting their suitcases out of the car. They made their way to the front desk, where the lady asked for their names.

"Hi, Henrietta," Barbie said, looking at her name tag. "I'm Dale Barbara. I think it was you that I spoke to on the phone to make the reservations."

"Ah, yes, Mr. Barbara." she said. Then she looked at Joe. "I must say, I imagined Joe was going to be a female." she smiled. "Whatever makes you happy though, right?" She swiped Barbie's credit card. "Enjoy your stay gentlemen. Your suite will be the last door on the left."

"Thank you ma'am." Joe said, grabbing the key card and starting down the hall. _Suite? A female? What in the heck was going on?_

"Joe, wait up." Barbie said, trailing behind. Joe slowed his pace a little so Barbie could catch up, and then they found the suite. Joe didn't miss that the writing on the side of the door said "Honeymoon Suite". What in the hell was Barbie up to now?

Joe inserted his card and entered the room. There were yellow roses on the bed, along with a card. _Wait a minute._ Joe thought. _Is Barbie...? No way... We haven't... He said..._ The questions started piling up in Joe's mind; he was so lost in his own headspace that he didn't hear Barbie come up behind him. He jumped when Barbie tapped his shoulder, then immediately laughed. "Sorry."

"It's ok." Barbie said. "You had that spaced out look on your face. Just wanted to make sure you were ok." When Joe nodded that yes, he was ok, Barbie continued. "Go on over to the bed then."

Joe made his way over to the bed; he picked up the roses and smelled them. Of course Barbie knew that Joe's favorite roses were the yellow ones. Joe looked at Barbie and smiled, then picked up the card that was alongside the bouquet. Joe opened it with a slightly shaking hand, not quite sure what to expect. He pulled out the card and started to read.

_Joe,_

_My life has been a whirlwind since I saw you for the first time all those years ago. We've survived the dome, an attempted murder case, and are currently in the process of raising a beautiful little girl. Every day when I wake up, I think of how lucky I am to have you, and how I want you to be there with me every step of the way._

_Barbie_

_PS: You can look up now._

Joe looked up and found Barbie in front of him, on one knee. "Joe McAllister, you wormed your way into my heart and took up residence there. And I don't mind that at all. I was wondering if you would want to spend the rest of your life with me?"

Joe looked at Barbie. _Oh my god...he is! He's proposing._ He kept a emotionless face as Barbie continued and said the words that Joe knew were going to come next.

"Joe McAllister, will you marry me?"

Once the words were out in the open, they hit Joe like a ton of bricks. This was all real; it was happening right now.

Taking a deep breath, Joe looked right at Barbie and answered, "Yes. I will." He broke out into a big smile then; Barbie was smiling too (and Joe could tell that some of the stress Barbie had was the anxiety of the proposal; Barbie's shoulder's sagged a little and he seemed more relaxed). 

Barbie placed the solid band on Joe's ring finger and snuck a kiss. "I love you." Barbie said.

"Love you too." Joe said, letting everything sink in for a minute. They were really going to do this. They had never really talked about marriage (although they did talk about the "future"), but Joe knew that they'd figure it out together.

The weekend spent at the bed and breakfast was nice (and romantic if Joe admitted it; Barbie had every little detail planned out). They headed back home on Sunday afternoon to get Giana and so Joe could get some rest before having to go back to work in the morning. On the drive home, they decided that Barbie would be the one to get Giana from Angie and Junior, so that they wouldn't see the ring on Joe's hand (that was going to be a surprise in the morning for Angie; Barbie had talked to her about him and Joe getting married "sometime in the next five years or so" about 6 months ago). Barbie had decided that he wasn't going to wear a ring until they got married, so it was like nothing had changed between them.

Joe fell asleep on the drive home; he leaned his head against the window, and that was it. The next thing he knew, the back car door was opening, and Barbie was trying to calm a crying Giana. "Shh...baby, it's ok. We're home now."

Joe woke up and turned around in his seat. "Gigi!" he said, smiling at her and reaching for her hand. She giggled and tried to drag it to her mouth.

"Joe Joe." she said, babbling something else that Joe couldn't quite understand. They made it home and everyone went into bed; they were all exhausted.

Joe got up first in the morning and showered; he left a note for Barbie by the coffee pot which said he'd promise to call on his lunch break.

Barbie and Giana were lounging around the house when Joe called at around noon. "Hey. It's my late night, so I'll be home around 6:30 or 7:00. Don't worry about making dinner; we're to go to Angie and Junior's." Joe lowered his voice. "She knows. I think we're going to get the third degree." 

Barbie couldn't help but laugh. "Alright." he said. "I miss you. Giana does too. Love you and see you tonight."

"Ok." Joe said.

Joe went home after work long enough to take a quick shower (he'd been puked on and bled on today) and change clothes, then they were off to Angie and Junior's. Angie answered the door, which Joe thought was weird. He didn't say anything at first though, and instead asked if he could help with anything.

"Nope. Just waiting on you." Angie said. They sat down at the table, and that's when Joe noticed that the table was only set for three adults and one child.

"Uh, Ang, where's Junior?" Joe asked. "I thought he was supposed to be here."

"He was." she sighed. "Some big missing persons case though. All free people went to help."

"Oh." Joe let it drop, seeing that it was a sore subject and that she didn't want to talk about it. "So, let's get it over with. I know you're going to grill me."

"Am not." she laughed. "Ok, maybe I am." she admitted. "As long as you two are happy, I don't care. But, no breaking each other's hearts, got it? Giana's going to be put in the middle, and that's no place for a child to be. I don't care what the situation is. If it goes bad for some reason, you WILL try every attempt to make it work, and if that doesn't work, you WILL remain civil for her sake. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Joe and Barbie answered; Joe knew Angie was just looking out for Giana. They'd seen the effects of divorce on kids at the clinic; no child should have to go through that.

"How are you and Junior doing?" Joe asked. "I haven't really got to talk to you much, between the clinic and being busy at home."

"We're doing ok." she said. "There are days, but they are few and far between."

"How's the baby?" Barbie asked. He had been mostly silent through the dinner; he wanted Joe and Angie to work things out first before he jumped into the fray.

"Doing good." Angie said. "Getting closer. Doc said anytime in the next two to four weeks. Little one is good to go and on track." Angie and Junior had decided that they didn't want to know if they were having a boy or girl (they were placing bets on it; Junior swore it was going to be a girl, Angie's money was on a boy. They had gotten lucky, the ultrasounds hadn't showed any defining characteristics; the baby was always turned with its back to the probe), so they had taken to calling the baby "little one" for now.

"Well, you can always call us." Joe said, with Barbie adding, "Anytime. We'll be there if you need us to be."

"Thanks guys." Angie said.

They finished dinner and Joe offered to help clean up. At first, Angie refused, but when both Joe and Barbie told her to go up to bed and relax, she gave in (they were hard to say no to when they teamed up).

As Joe and Barbie tidied up the house, Joe said, "I don't know about this thing with Junior tonight. It just sounds weird." He scrubbed a dish harder than it needed to be. "I swear, if he hurts her..."

"Joe, relax. You're going to scrub that design right off the plate." Barbie said. "You'll have to get in line anyway. I'll probably beat him up first." Barbie laughed, and Joe loosened up a little; it was good to know that Barbie had his back.

They finished up with the housework, and Joe carried a sleeping Giana out to the car. She snuffled a little when they got her into the car seat, but she was out again as soon as the car started moving.

After getting her into bed when they got home, Joe and Barbie talked for a couple of minutes, and then Joe decided he should probably go to bed too. Barbie said he was going to take a shower and then he'd be in. Joe remembered Barbie turning on the water and the soft sound of Barbie singing for a moment; the next thing he knew it was morning, and Barbie wasn't in bed.

Joe went downstairs and found a note, along with a cup of coffee. "7:15 AM: Took Giana for a stroll around the neighborhood so she wouldn't wake you up when she got fussy this morning. We'll probably still be gone when you have to leave for work, so I left you a cup of coffee on the table. You might need to reheat it. Talk to you tonight. Love you. Barbie and Giana"

Joe reheated the coffee (it was lukewarm, and Joe hated lukewarm coffee), and headed off to work. Angie wasn't there; Joe panicked at first, until he texted her and found out that she was at a doctor's appt.

Work was a typical Tuesday; Joe really hated all the walk-ins for flu shots, especially since they were down a nurse (darn pregnancy thing going around- the nurse was on bed rest for contractions that had started in her 32nd week; she was now 34 weeks, and they were hoping to get her to 37 weeks and see what the plan was). He managed to get through it, and came home to find Giana and Barbie asleep on the couch, with "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" on the TV. Joe sat down on the other couch and watched the episode (the theme song had been stuck in his head all morning since one of his patients had sang it); he showered and then came back downstairs to make dinner. He wanted Barbie and Giana to sleep; they'd had a long day from the sounds of the voicemail Barbie had left Joe at lunch.

Once dinner was ready, Joe came into the living room and woke Barbie and Giana up. "Hey. It's dinnertime."

"When'd you get home?" Barbie asked as they sat down at the table.

"A while ago." Joe admitted, "But I wanted to let you and Giana get some extra sleep. You guys had a busy day, huh?"

"Oh yeah." Barbie laughed, going into all the details of the day; by the end of it, both he and Joe were laughing. "Sounds like you had a rough day too." Barbie said.

"Yeah. But it's ok now, cause I'm home with you two." Joe said, not caring that it sounded extremely sappy. It was the truth. Being able to come home to Barbie and Giana was the best part of Joe's day.

"We're glad you're home." Barbie said. After they cleaned up dishes and got Giana into bed, they headed up to bed themselves. They were both too tired to do anything more than share a quick couple of kisses and turn out the lights. The next thing either one of them knew, it was 5:30 AM and Giana was screaming at the top of her lungs (her version of an alarm clock).

It was just another typical day at Barbie and Joe's house; Barbie stayed at home with Giana while Joe went to work. Once Joe got home, they made dinner together, and after they put Giana to bed, they went and sat on the couch. Tonight though, was going to be different.

They had just sat down when the phone rang. Joe leapt up and grabbed it after the first ring, hoping that it didn't wake up Giana. "Hello?" Joe asked.

"Joe?" Angie's voice was shaky, and it sounded like she was terrified. "Can you and Barbie come over?"

"Of course." Joe said, not needing to know any details. He just knew he had to get over to see his sister- and now. Joe and Angie hung up, and Joe looked at Barbie. "We gotta go to Angie's like pronto. Something's not right."

"Ok." Barbie went up and grabbed Giana, wrapping her up in a blanket, and they were off.

When they got to Angie's, the door was locked. Joe used his key to get in. "Ang? It's Joe and Barbie."

"In the bathroom." came the muffled reply.

Joe and Barbie made their way to the bathroom; Barbie made Joe enter first. "She's your sister, and it's not something I think she probably wants me to deal with." Barbie stood outside the door with Giana as Joe entered the bathroom.

"Ang?" Joe whispered when he saw Angie on the floor in a puddle of something. "Are you ok?"

"I think..." she started, her voice almost a whisper. "I think my water broke. Can you and Barbie take me to the hospital? I can't get a hold of Junior."

"Of course." Joe said. He would kill Junior later for not answering his phone. "Come on." It took a little work, but they got her up and out to the car. Barbie drove them to the hospital, and dropped Joe and Angie off at the birthing center. "I'll be back." he said. "I'm going to go find Junior and make sure he doesn't miss the birth of his kid."

"Be safe." Angie and Joe said. They whisked Angie up to the labor and delivery floor and got her settled into the room and hooked up to all the equipment they needed. Joe was by her side, coaching her through everything (he remembered some of the stuff he'd learned in his maternity class in nursing school). A particularly hard contraction hit, and Angie squeezed Joe's hand hard. When she released her grip, she said. "Sorry."

"It's ok Angie." Joe reassured her. "I'm here."

After what seemed like a lifetime (but according to the clock, was only about an hour and fifteen minutes), Barbie returned with a very weary Junior in tow. "You'd better go over there before Joe clobbers you." Barbie said. 

Junior came into the room and took over Joe's spot at the side of Angie's bed. "I'm sorry Angie. I didn't know...I shouldn't have."

"It's your job." Angie said. "You're here now."

Joe and Barbie went out to the waiting room; Giana spread out across their laps and fell back asleep. Joe leaned into Barbie and said, "Thank you for being here and helping find Junior."

"You bet." Barbie said, tightening his arm around Junior. "Now we wait."

"Yep." Joe closed his eyes, only intending to rest them for a minute; the next thing he remembered was Barbie poking him.

"Hey, wake up. Junior's here."

"Oh." Joe said, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Sorry."

"It's ok." Junior said. "I just came out to tell you that everything is fine. Angie and Finn are doing good."

"Was it a boy or girl?" Joe asked. He'd seen both boys and girls be named Finn before.

"Boy." Junior beamed. "He's perfect." Junior came and sat down by both Joe and Barbie. "Thank you both so much for taking care of Angie and coming to get me."

"Yeah."

"Angie said give her about an hour or so, and she wants you to come see him."

"We'll be here." Barbie said. Joe nodded.

"Thanks again." Junior said, and he went back towards the room where Angie was.

"Finn, huh?" Barbie asked. "That kind of has a ring to it. Finn Rennie."

"Oh my gosh." Joe snickered, thinking of some funny nicknames that could come from that moniker. "That is actually kind of a cute name."

Junior came out a while later to get Joe first to take him back to see Angie and Finn.

"Oh my gosh, Angie, he's perfect." Joe said, looking at his nephew for the first time.

"You wanna hold him?" Angie asked.

"Ok." Joe was nervous; once he held the little guy in his arms, he didn't want to give him back.

"Thanks for everything." Angie said.

"You bet. Wait, where's Junior?" Joe had just noticed that Junior wasn't in the room.

"Said he wanted to talk to both you and Barbie individually." Angie said.

 _Oh boy._ Joe thought. _This can't be good_.

"You can send Barbie back if you want to." Angie said. "I'm sure he'd like to see the baby."

"Yeah." Joe agreed.

Barbie went back into the room, and Junior started to talk to Joe.

"Look, I'm sorry for making you guys worry. It was just that this case was high-profile, and since I knew the kid, they wanted me to help find him."

"Junior, don't..." Joe started.

"It was Judge MacEnthey's son." Junior said. "I went to school with him. You probably remember Chester."

"Oh, yeah." Joe said. "Did you find him?"

"Not yet. I left the team when Barbie came to get me. I gave them all my notes and directions. I can't go back there now. Angie needs me here." Junior paused. "I can't say thank you enough. You and Barbie kept a good watch on Angie, and I'm extremely grateful to you both."

"We were just doing what any normal person would do." Joe said.

"Well, thank you again. When Angie comes home, we want to say thank you and have you two over for a bar-be-que or something like that."

"We'd like that." Joe said. Giana shifted a little. Joe repositioned her and looked at Junior. "I think we're going to head out soon. I gotta go to work in the morning, and Giana needs her rest too."

"Of course." Junior said as Barbie came back into the waiting room. "Thanks again."

"Ready?" Barbie asked. Joe nodded. Now that the adrenaline was out of his system, he was exhausted. 

"Hey Barbie?" Joe asked as they started to fall asleep.

"Yeah Joe?"

"What would you say to another kid someday?"

"I wouldn't say no." Barbie admitted. "But we'll talk about it later, ok?"

"Alright." Joe said.

It was weird not having Angie there at work the next day, but Joe managed to make it through ok (if he snuck over to the hospital on his lunch break, well, there was nothing wrong with that now, was there?). He got home and spent the time waiting for Barbie to finish with dinner (it was supposed to be a surprise for Joe; Joe could smell the garlic chicken the minute he walked in the door) playing with Giana. They were giggling on the floor when Barbie walked in. He snapped a picture quickly (Joe only knew because he heard the click) and then announced dinner was ready.

It was garlic chicken (Joe's nose was good); Barbie had also made mashed potatoes (with turkey gravy- a nice contrast in flavors) and a pumpkin pie- which, as far as Joe could tell, was made from scratch. They ate mostly in silence, both making sure Giana didn't choke on her food (being a two year old now, almost three, Joe realized, she had a habit of stuffing her mouth too full and then trying to swallow it). After dinner, Joe took Giana up and gave her a bath and got her ready for bed (he'd read her "Cinderella" a million times already, but it was her favorite book right now, so he read it again, making sure to make different voices for all the characters). Once she was out, Joe turned on her night light and closed the door most of the way. He made his way down to the kitchen, where Barbie was just finishing up with the dishes.

It was weirdly silent as they finished up the housework. Joe was the one to break the silence. "Ok. What's going on? We've barely said two words to each other all night."

"Nothing." Barbie said. "Guess I don't have a lot to say tonight is all."

"Bull." Joe said. "You always have something to say." Joe paused for a minute, thinking of what he wanted to say before it came out wrong. "This is about what I said last night, isn't it? About raising another kid?"

Watching Barbie's face cloud over, Joe knew he'd struck a chord. Oh crap. 

Barbie looked like he too was trying to think of how to say what he wanted to say without it being misinterpreted. "Yes." Barbie finally said. "I just think it's because of Angie just having Finn. I don't know if you're really ready for that." Barbie stopped as he watched Joe's face turn from neutral to angry. _Oh boy...now I've done it._ Barbie thought.

From there, the argument was on; they both tried to keep their voices low so that they wouldn't wake up Giana.

"You don't think I'm ready?" Joe hissed. "Hello, I'm around kids all day. And I have Giana at home, so don't tell me it doesn't count since I get to give them back."

Barbie paused. Joe did have a valid point there. "Joe, it's not that...it's just..." he wasn't sure how to say it. 

"What? You think I'm too young?"

"No. Well, yes, but that's not why. It's just..." Barbie decided to just spit it out. "Kids are stressful. And on top of just getting married, and being a nurse- which is stressful to begin with; I don't know how you do it to be honest, I don't want to overwhelm you is all."

It was Joe's turn to pause and think of Barbie just looking out for him. "Ok. I'll give you that point." Joe looked at Barbie. "But I'm still mad at you."

"Fair enough." Barbie said. "I'll sleep on the couch tonight if it makes you feel better."

Joe actually laughed. "Oh sure. Make me feel guilty in the morning when you wake up with a stiff back old man." he teased. "No, it's ok. You can sleep in the bed tonight. But no funny business. Got it?"

"Deal." Barbie said. "And, just so you know, you're going to make a great dad someday when we decide to add more kids to the family." Barbie snuck a kiss. "Go on up. I'll be right there."

When Joe woke up in the morning, it was to Giana giggling in bed next to him. Joe cracked open his eyes and saw Barbie tickling Giana's foot and saying, "Tickle monster's gonna get you."

"Morning." Joe said. Barbie looked over with a guilty look on his face.

"Did we wake you up?" Barbie asked. "Sorry."

"It's all good. I needed to get up early anyway. I need to take a shower before going to work today." Joe said, reaching out to Giana, who crawled over to Joe and gave him a big hug.

"I'll have breakfast ready for you when you get downstairs." Barbie said. "Come on Giana, let's go make Joe breakfast."

"Ok!" Giana said. "Love you dada." she said looking at Joe.

"Love you too babygirl." Joe said. He and Barbie shared a look. This was the first full sentence she'd said. She'd never called Joe 'dada' before either. Joe was kind of confused. They'd talk about it later.

Joe quickly showered and came downstairs to find Giana on Barbie's hip as he buttered the toast. Joe let the scene sink in for a second before announcing his presence.

"Come on over." Barbie said. "It's not much, really. Just cereal and toast."

"It's perfect." Joe said. "Thank you both."

"You bet." Barbie said. "Have a good day at work. Call me at lunch, ok?"

"Will do." Joe promised. "Have a good day you two. I'll see you tonight."

"Bye bye." Giana waved. Joe grinned and waved bye to the both of them and walked to work, since it was a nice day out. His whole walk was filled with the events of last night and this morning. It was just weird. Maybe there was something Barbie wanted to talk about; Joe's lunch time was usually when Giana was down for her nap. And Barbie never asked for Joe to call, something definitely had to be up.

Joe pushed it out of his mind and made it through the first part of the day; he was with the nurse practitioner, so he got to take lunch when he was supposed to. He went into the break room, which was completely empty, and called Barbie. "Hey."

"Hi." Barbie said.

"Giana sleeping?"

"Yep. Just got her down." Barbie said. "Good timing."

Joe laughed. "With the nurse practitioner. We're usually on time, or close to it."

"Nice." Barbie said.

"Yeah." Joe said. It was silent for a second, until Joe spoke again. "So, this morning..."

"Yep." Barbie said. "First sentence. A big milestone. I hope it was ok that she called you dada."

"Of course it is Barbie." Joe said. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"Because we'd never talked about it before."

"Well, it was going to happen eventually, right?" Joe laughed. "I mean, as she gets older, she's going to figure everything out."

"True." Barbie laughed. "I hope that's not for a while though. Like when she is twenty."

"I think it's going to be before that." Joe smiled. "But I know what you mean. Let's worry about that when it happens ok? It's a bit of a ways off."

"Yeah." Barbie acknowledged. "It is." From there, it was the same mundane conversations as always, until Joe had to go back out to the floor. "I love you and I'll see you tonight."

"Ok. See you then. Love you too."

Joe knew something was off as he made his way up the block; there were a heck of a lot of cars stopped in the street. Joe hadn't heard any sirens yet, so that was a good sign.

He was just getting ready to enter the house when Barbie reached out and pulled him in. "How in the hell did you get here?" Barbie asked. "They've got the streets blocked."

"I walked to work. Saw all the cars stopped as I walked up the block. What on earth is going on?"

"Thank god you're alive." Barbie crushed Joe in a tight hug.

"What is going on?" Joe repeated. Things were just getting weirder and weirder by the minute.

"You didn't hear? There's some sort of crazed maniac on the loose and the police are looking for him. No one is supposed to go anywhere. The whole town's on lockdown."

"Oh my." Joe said. Then a thought struck him. "Angie. She can't be left alone right now. Not with a new baby to look after. What if something happens..." Joe was on his way out the door before Barbie could tell him not to leave the house, that Angie was still in the hospital (she was set to be released when the town went into lockdown). 

Joe made it to Angie's house and let himself in, and found the house empty. He called Barbie in a panic. "Where is she? Oh god, they have her and Finn don't they? As some sort of sign to Junior?"

"Joe, breathe." Barbie calmly said. "She's ok. She hasn't left the hospital yet. I just talked to her. I promise."

"Ok. I'll come home then." Joe said.

"No, stay." Barbie begged. "Please. You already tested the odds once; I don't want you to try it again and get in trouble. Just keep the radio and TV on. They're giving updates."

"Fine." Joe said, knowing it was no use to fight; Barbie was right. Joe had been stupid in the first place to rush over to Angie's. He settled in, watching the TV for updates.

They finally caught the mentally ill person at around 10:30 PM; Joe was too tired to come home, so he stayed the night at Angie and Junior's (after calling Barbie and letting him know, so Barbie didn't panic).

The door opening in the middle of the night scared the living crap out of Joe; by the sounds of it, the person opened the door was startled as well.

Joe flipped on the light and found Junior standing there, pointing a gun at him. "Whoa, Junior, put it down. It's me, Joe. Your brother in law.

"Joe? What are you doing here?" Junior asked, holstering his weapon.

"Long story." Joe said. "Short version, I came over to protect Angie and ended up staying once they caught the person cause I was too tired to go home."

"Thanks." Junior said. "Sorry I scared you."

"I'm sorry I scared you too." Joe said. "You ok?"

"Yeah. Tired is all." Junior said. "I'm going to go to bed. Feel free to make yourself at home."

"I'm gonna sleep on the couch." Joe said. "I'll be gone before you wake up in the morning."

"Night Joe." Junior said as he made his way upstairs.

"Night Junior." Joe said.

Before he left in the morning, Joe made a pot of coffee and left Junior a note, apologizing again for the night before and saying that Barbie, Giana, and Joe would throw a welcome home party for Finn whenever Junior and Angie felt up to it.

Joe stopped by the house long enough to shower and change clothes; he told Barbie what had happened, and then he was off to work. It was his long day, so he got home right as Barbie was getting Giana to take a bath.

"Hey." Joe said.

"Hi." Barbie answered as he watched Giana splash around in the tub. "How was work?"

"Ok. Stuck with one of the docs today, so that's part of why I was late. It was my late night too."

"I remembered." Barbie said. "I looked at the calendar and saw where it was written down."

"Nice." Joe said. They'd worked on scheduling things out on the calendar. So far, it seemed like it was working.

"There's dinner in the microwave for you if you're hungry." Barbie said. "Giana and I already ate."

"Ok." Joe went downstairs and heated up the food and sat down at the table. He was just putting the plate in the dishwasher when Barbie came back downstairs. "She out?"

"Finally, yeah." Barbie laughed. "Didn't think she was going to go to sleep tonight. Took three stories."

"Wow." Joe said.

"Junior called today. Angie and Finn are home now. They wanted to know if we wanted to come over this weekend and welcome Finn home. I told them we'd be there. I hope that was ok. Normally I talk to you about it first."

"It's cool." Joe said. "I actually had talked to Junior about throwing Finn a homecoming party anyway."

"Yeah. Junior mentioned you two scared the crap out of each other last night." Barbie laughed.

"That is a true fact." Joe chuckled. "We're both in one piece, though, so it's all good."

"I'll be up shortly." Barbie said. "Go get comfortable."

"Alright." Joe went upstairs and climbed into bed and waited for Barbie.

Joe was asleep when Barbie came upstairs a few minutes later. Barbie slid into bed alongside Joe and kissed his shoulder blade, and they both slept.

It was finally Friday, and Joe was never happier to get off at noon in his life. He had way too much to do.

Tonight was the "Welcome home" party for Finn; Barbie had done most of the planning, and now it was up to Joe to make sure everything went right.

He looked at the tables in the backyard. They all looked good, but something seemed to be missing. Joe looked at Barbie. "I think we need something in the middle. Like a centerpiece or something."

"Well, what do you want?" Barbie asked. When Joe looked at him, Barbie continued. "There's all kinds of centerpieces. Like a vase of flowers, or a bottle of beer." Barbie didn't miss the way Joe's eyebrows shot up. "Bachelor party one time." Barbie clarified.

"What about a jar full of mints?" Joe asked. "I've seen them, where they have 'It's a Boy' on the wrapper."

"Those would be perfect." Barbie said. "I'll go run to the store and get some."

"Thanks. You're the best." Joe smiled. "I'll work on the streamers leading out to the backyard."

"Alright." Barbie said. "Just make sure Angie and Junior don't see them though. This is their surprise, remember?"

"Yes sir." Joe said, mock saluting Barbie. They both laughed, and then it was back to planning for the party.

Everything turned out perfect (even if Joe had to distract Angie for a bit so she wouldn't see outside when the wind shifted directions. Finn also chose that moment to spit up, so a mini-crisis was adverted).

"Thanks for all your help today." Joe said as they climbed into bed later on that night. "I couldn't have done it without you. You kept me sane throughout the whole deal."

"Yeah." Barbie said. "Let's not plan another one of those shindigs for a couple of months, alright?" He leaned into Joe on the couch. "I'm not sure we'd be able to outdo ourselves without some serious planning."

"Yep." Joe agreed. Then what Barbie said sank in. "Wait, are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"What do you think I'm saying?" Barbie asked.

"Are you talking about a party for us?" Joe asked. He had two separate theories. One was a pre-wedding party; the other was if they adopted a kid. Either one could be an option at this point.

"Maybe." Barbie said. "But maybe not." He grinned.

Joe playfully slapped at Barbie. "No fair." He looked at Barbie. "Seriously, though. Are we going to talk more in depth about things? Or are we just going to skirt around the issues?"

Barbie looked at Joe. "What is there to talk about? We're working on a wedding, and kids aren't quite in the future yet." 

Joe shut down; when Barbie put it like that, there was really no room for argument now, was there? He got up and started down the hall. "I'm going to go take a shower then head to bed. I'm getting kind of tired."

"Joe, wait." Barbie said, realizing that he'd messed up. It wasn't any use though; when Joe got like this, it was best for Barbie to keep his distance and wait it out.

He'd have to make it up to Joe later on.

When Joe left for work in the morning, Barbie was just waking up; Joe could hear Barbie going into Giana's room and calming her down. Joe quietly shut the door and got into the car.

Of course Barbie had left his Lynyrd Skynyrd CD in the car stereo. Joe ejected it and decided to listen to the radio on the short drive to work. He shut off his phone before going into the office and didn't think twice. It wasn't like anything big was going to happen, and besides, if it did, Barbie knew where to find Joe.

Lunch was boring; Joe didn't leave the office. In fact, he sat in the break room and stared at the wall for most of the time. He knew he should've talked to Barbie last night, but he couldn't. He would've more than likely said something he would've regretted.

The work day was long (but, it could have been longer, Joe supposed. At least nothing serious happened). Joe was going to stop by Subway and get dinner, but his gut told him to head straight home instead. Seeing as his gut had never steered him wrong before, Joe headed home.

The minute he hit the front door, Joe knew something was up. The whole house was spotless, and there was an amazing smell coming from the kitchen.

"Barbie?" Joe called out.

"Coming!" came the reply. Joe figured Barbie was just getting done cleaning Giana up after her latest messy adventure. "Come on Gigi." Joe could hear Barbie say. "Let's go say hi to Joe."

Joe heard some rustling before Barbie came down the stairs. When they came into his line of sight, Joe had to hold back the laughter and the tears.

Barbie and Giana came down the stairs; Giana was trying to hang on to the flowers (yellow roses, Joe couldn't help but notice); Barbie was hanging on to them further at the bottom so they didn't fall on the floor. Both Barbie and Giana were dressed up; suddenly Joe felt out of place in his scrubs.

"Hi." Barbie said once they made it over to Joe. "These are for you." Giana pushed the flowers towards Joe. "I'm sorry." Barbie said as Giana tried to wiggle out of Barbie's grasp and go to Joe.

"Me too." Joe said as he let Barbie take the flowers, and Joe grabbed Giana.

"Come in to the kitchen." Barbie said. "I made you a nice dinner." Barbie ducked his head. "I thought it was a good way to say sorry."

"It is." Joe said. "Do I need to change into something fancier? I suddenly feel underdressed for the occasion." Joe chuckled.

"No, you're perfect." Barbie said. "Who needs those fancy dinners out to say 'Sorry I fu...screwed up'?" Barbie said, catching himself at the last minute. 

"Very true." Joe said. "I'd rather have a dinner with you two here at home than out in public anyway." Joe didn't miss the way Barbie grinned at that statement.

"I was thinking tonight, after dinner and Giana getting to bed, that we could talk a little bit." Barbie said.

Normally Joe would give Barbie crap for the implied innuendo, however, he could tell that Barbie really meant that he wanted to talk like normal adults would about a problem. "Ok. Yeah. Sounds good."

Joe's stomach took that moment to loudly grumble. "But first, I say we eat."

Barbie laughed. "Sounds like a plan to me. Your majesty, this way."

Joe allowed himself to be led to the table, where Barbie had set up the table in a romantic like setting. It looked like the meal of the night was Shrimp Alfredo, something Barbie had only attempted to make once and failed (that was after a fight he and Joe had had as well). Joe looked at it and couldn't help but speak the first thought that came to his mind.

"Looks better than the last time you tried it." Joe laughed. He immediately turned serious. "Sorry, I didn't mean..."

"Relax." Barbie grinned. "I know what you meant. And yes, I didn't burn it this time. And the noodles aren't overcooked either. I've learned from last time's mistakes."

Joe caught the implied meaning in Barbie's words. He was also saying that he'd learn from the last fight they'd had, where neither one of them spoke to each other for almost a week. Joe had been the first to apologize in that one.

"Well, thank you for dinner." Joe said. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." Barbie said. "But we'll talk about all that later, alright? Right now, let's just have a family dinner and enjoy ourselves."

"That sounds like a plan to me." Joe agreed. 

They ate, each one telling the other about their days. Giana interjected every now and then with some babbling; it seemed to be at just the right time. They were laughing so hard by the time they finished eating dinner. The laughter continued as they did the dishes and both gave Giana her bath and tucked her in.

They went into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Barbie grabbed them both a cup of coffee.

"I'm sorry." Barbie said. "I should've let you be able to talk and speak your side of things. The way I talked last night, it left no room for discussion, did it?"

"No." Joe agreed. "It really didn't." Hey, he was just being honest. "But, it's done now. Let's move past it and work on being more open and communicative in the future, ok?"

"Alright." Barbie agreed. "Hey, I was thinking. What about just a small thing for our wedding. Like immediate family only?"

"That's pretty much the only people who would be there." Joe laughed. He paused for a second. "I don't want the doctors coming to the ceremony. Could you imagine that?"

"Oh my gosh." Barbie chuckled. "I could just see it now."

"So, we can agree on a small wedding then." Joe said. "Now, the question of the honeymoon. Do we take Giana or not? How long? Where to?"

"Slowly. One question at a time." Barbie said. "I think we could take two small ones instead of a big one. One with Giana and one without. A couple days each, and they don't have to be done at the same time."

"That could work." Joe said. "That would actually work out well." Joe paused for a moment before speaking again. "We could take one around Giana's birthday and go to Disneyland. Two celebrations in one, right?" Joe grinned. "She'll be almost four, and I think she'd have fun there. Plus, I've never been there before." Joe admitted.

"You've never been to Disneyland?" Barbie asked, confused. "Doesn't every kid in Chester's Mill get to go to Disneyland? Isn't it like a requirement to be a resident over something?"

"We were supposed to." Joe said, face clouding over with something that Barbie couldn't quite recognize. "Then mom got sick, and that plan went on the back burner."

"Oh, gosh, Joe. I'm so sorry. I didn't know." Barbie said. He felt like a dick now.

"It's alright." Joe said. "It's done and over with." 

Barbie knew by Joe's tone of voice that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, so he switched topics. "Ok. The trip with Giana is settled then. Now, where do we want to go by ourselves?"

"I don't know." Joe said. He hadn't even thought about it. "Somewhere other than here or the immediate area would be nice. Tell you what. You come up with it and surprise me."

"You sure?" Barbie asked. "I mean, it's your trip too. You should have some say in it."

"All I care is that I'm with you. I could really care less where we go."

"Alright." Barbie said. He was going to plan an amazing trip.

"Not that I really want to." Joe said. "But, I'm going to bed. I'm exhausted."

"Alright. I'll be up shortly." Barbie said.

Barbie slid into bed, trying to be careful not to wake Joe up; Joe woke up anyway (he could feel the bed dip as Barbie got in). "Hey." Joe said, sleepily smiling up at Barbie.

"Hi. Didn't mean to wake you." Barbie said. 

"S'ok." Joe said. They got rearranged, so Joe had his head on Barbie's chest. "Hey Barbie?"

"Yeah Joe?"

"What would you have done if the dome never came down?"

Barbie was a little taken aback at the question Joe asked. What was Joe getting at here? "Um. I'm not really sure." he honestly admitted.

"Would you have stayed in Chester's Mill? Or would you have went back to Zenith?" Joe asked.

"My, aren't we inquisitive?" Barbie chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. "I really don't know what I would have done Joe. It doesn't matter anyway, because the dome DID come down, and I'm here now. We can't think about the what-if's."

"Ok." Joe seemed to be satisfied with that answer; he laid back down and closed his eyes. He was asleep in minutes; Barbie spent the whole night awake, trying to figure out why Joe would ask a question like that.

In the morning, Barbie asked Joe the question that had been on his mind all night long. "Joe? Why did you ask me what I would've done if the dome never came down?"

Joe looked at Barbie. "Guess I wanted to know how much things would've changed. If you still would've met me and if we'd be together."

"Hey." Barbie said. "Are you having second thoughts?"

"No." Joe said. "Maybe." he admitted after a minute. "I just can't help but think we're only together because of that stupid dome all those years ago."

"It might've helped." Barbie said. "But, Joe, I love you. That's nothing that the dome had anything to do with."

"Ok." Joe said. "I just wondered."

"It's a natural thing to wonder." Barbie said. "We can wait a bit, if you want to, until you're absolutely sure." Barbie reassured Joe.

"Thanks." Joe said. "I think it's ok now. Just one of those things I wonder every now and then."

"I wonder too, sometimes." Barbie said.

Silence filled the kitchen for a few minutes, before Joe spoke. "I've got the day off. What do you say we take Giana to the Zoo and Aquarium? Do a family thing today?"

"If you're feeling up to it, sure." Barbie said. "I know how tired you normally are on your days off."

"I think it would be fun." Joe said. "One day won't hurt anything."

"Alright then." Barbie said. "I'll go get her up if you want to start making breakfast?"

"Deal. But don't tell her where we're going." Joe said. "I want to surprise her."

"We can do that." Barbie said on his way out of the kitchen.

Barbie returned a few minutes, with a sleepy Giana, still clad in her pajamas, in his arms. "Joe's making us breakfast." Barbie said. "He said he has a surprise for us today."

"Ok." Giana said.

Joe finished scrambling the eggs and placed them on the plate, alongside the toast and hashbrowns. "Breakfast is served my fair lady and kind sir." he said as he sat the plates down. Giana giggled, and Joe didn't miss the smirk that was on Barbie's face. Joe was so going to pay for that later, he could already tell.

"Alrighty. Everyone brush their teeth, and let's get dressed. Time's wasting away." Joe said after cleaning up the table.

Giana was ready in record time; she was excited to see what Joe had planned. She kept asking him what they were going to do.

"It's a surprise. Can't tell you nothing." Joe said, making a "lock my lips and throw away the key" motion.

"No fair." she started to pout, stopping when Barbie warned her that they wouldn't get ice cream after everything.

Joe purposely took the long way to the zoo; Giana had never been that way, so she had not a clue where they were headed until they pulled into the parking lot.

"Zoo?" she said, looking at Joe and Barbie. When they nodded, she shrieked in delight. "Thank you so much!"

"You bet sweetie." Barbie said. They got Giana out of her carseat; neither one was expecting the leaping hug she gave them. "You're welcome honey." Joe said the third time Giana said thank you.

The day spent at the zoo was fun; Barbie and Joe let Giana drag them around to the exhibits in the order she wanted to go to them (if it made her more tired in the end, well, that was just a win for them). 

Joe settled Giana in on the couch when they got home; she was asleep on the cushion the moment Joe placed her down. Barbie and Joe got things all settled in her room (they couldn't say no to her, whatever she wanted, she got. They had to make new spots for all the stuffed animals she got today), then they came and got her and tucked her in.

Barbie and Joe went to the kitchen, where they each had a glass of wine and talked about their plans for the week. After that was scheduled, they made their way to the couch, where their plans were to watch some TV. What happened instead was they too fell asleep on the couch. Giana was a little bundle of energy.

Joe was the first to wake up (at around 9:30), he gently shook Barbie awake, and they headed upstairs. Barbie was back asleep the minute his head hit the pillow; Joe stayed awake a little longer before sleep finally claimed him as well.

In the morning, Joe was up first, he made coffee for him and Barbie, and some hot chocolate for Giana. They had breakfast, and then they spent a lazy day on the couch

Barbie and Joe playfully ribbed each other as they watched the football games; Giana giggled along.

After the games were done, Joe switched the channel to Disney Junior, and the rest of the day until Giana went to bed was filled with "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", "Doc McStuffins", and "Sofia the First". Joe and Barbie would be lying if they said they didn't know all the words to both the theme songs, and most of the songs that were in the episodes.

Once Giana was in bed, the turned the TV on to "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" and then "CSI: Miami". Afterwards, they went up to bed.

"Hey Barbie?" Joe asked.

"Yeah Joe?" 

"I was thinking we could get married the Friday after next. I'm off from work that day."

"That sounds like a plan to me." Barbie said, making a mental note to check on the status of the Disneyland tickets, and on the tickets for the other part of the honeymoon (that would be later on in the year- Barbie had decided to do it just after Halloween, but before Thanksgiving.).

"I'll talk to Angie and Junior tomorrow, to see if they'll be our witnesses." Joe said.

"Ok." Barbie agreed. He was tired, so he rested his head on the top of Joe's head. "I love you."

"Love you too." Joe said.

 _Today's the day._ Joe thought as he woke up. Today he and Barbie were going to get married. This was something Joe had been looking forward to since Barbie had asked him to get married, but Joe had to admit, he was a little nervous. This wasn't something you took lightly. It was a lifelong commitment (or at least that's how Joe saw it). It was a big step, but Joe thought he was ready for it.

Joe tried to be quiet as he got up and showered; he checked on Giana and then went downstairs to call Angie and Junior. Angie picked up on the first ring, and immediately agreed to be a witness for them. Junior was a little more hesitant at first, but he too gave in. They agreed to meet Joe and Barbie at the courthouse at 2 pm.

Barbie got up a short time later; he and Joe shared a cup of coffee and went over the day's plans. Once they had it set to their liking, they got ready for the day ahead. It was going to be a busy one, that was for sure.

When Giana finally woke up, Joe looked in her closet for a dress for her to wear. He didn't like any of the ones in there, so he told Barbie he was going to go to the store and pick up "a couple of things". Barbie agreed, and gave Joe a list of things he needed.

Joe picked out the cutest dress he could find. It was white with little flowerbuds on it, and some sparkly tulle. _This would look perfect on Giana_ Joe thought as he looked at it. A little girl came out of the dressing room with the exact same dress on; when Joe saw it on a girl who kind of looked like Giana, he was even more sold on the dress. It looked gorgeous.

Joe bought the dress, and the list of things Barbie needed, then he headed home. He and Barbie agreed to take separate cars to the courthouse, so neither one of them would see each other before the wedding (which was considered bad luck). Barbie and Giana would go first, and Joe would go get Angie and Junior and they'd all meet up. That was the plan anyway.

As Joe got dressed, he tried to think of what he wanted his vows to be. They had agreed to write their own vows, and Joe had some penned down, but they just didn't seem right. He got online to look at what other people had done, and tweaked his vows a touch. Then he put the piece of paper in his suit jacket and headed off to the courthouse.

 _Here we go._ Joe thought on the drive over. _Here begins the first day of the rest of my life. I can't believe this is really happening. I can't believe we're actually doing this._

Joe started getting more anxious the closer it got to 2 pm. _Remember, it's just you, Barbie, Giana, Junior, Angie, and the judge_. Joe reminded himself. _You can do this._

Angie, Junior, and Joe entered the courtroom to find Giana and Barbie waiting there; Joe had to take a deep, calming breath before walking to the judge's bench. When Barbie smiled at him and squeezed Joe's hand, Joe relaxed a little.

The judge gave his spiel about love and marriage, and then asked who the witnesses were. Junior and Angie stood up and came up to the bench. The judge looked between Joe and Barbie. "Do you two have any vows that you want to say to each other?"

"Yes." both Barbie and Joe said at the same time. They laughed, and Joe decided to go first.

"I Joe, take you Dale to be my husband, my partner in life and my one true love. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live."

Joe could see Barbie's eyes cloud up with tears. It was Barbie's turn to take a breath before he read his own vows.

"Joe, today I become your husband and you become my husband. I will strive to give you the best of myself, while accepting you the way you are. I promise to respect you as a whole person with your own interests, desires, and needs, and to realize that those are sometimes different, but no less important than my own. I promise to keep myself open to you, to let you in to my innermost fears and feelings, secrets and dreams. I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face change as we both change, keeping our relationship alive and exciting. And finally, I promise to love you in good times and in bad, with all I have to give and all that I am, in the only way I know how -- completely and forever"

The judge looked between the two of them. "Does anyone here have any objections as to why these two should not get married?" When nobody spoke up, the judge continued, "The rings please."

Angie grabbed Giana, who had the rings on the pillow in her hands. Barbie and Joe exchanged rings, and then the judge said, "Then by the power vested in me by the city of Chester's Mill and the state of Maine, I hereby pronounce you husband and husband. You may kiss."

Barbie and Joe shared a quick kiss; then the four of them signed the marriage license, and they were off, headed back home for the "reception" (which was just a small dinner). Angie and Junior (and Finn, who was growing like a weed) gave Joe and Barbie their present: a weekend getaway to the bed and breakfast where Barbie had proposed.

"We'll take Giana." Junior said. "It's whenever you want to go."

"Thank you." Barbie and Joe said. They spent a little more time with Angie and Junior, and finally everyone was tired, so Angie and Junior headed home (with a sound asleep Finn in Junior's arms), and Joe and Barbie got Giana tucked into bed. They headed up to bed themselves.

"I have one more surprise for you." Barbie said. Joe turned to look at Barbie.

"What?"

"I'll tell you in the morning though." Barbie said. "I'm tired."

"Me too." Joe admitted. "Gosh, is this what marriage is going to be like? The whole day we're apart and then we fall into bed, too tired to do anything?"

"Who knows?" Barbie teased. "We've been doing that already for a long time now, you'd think we'd have it down."

"Oh shut it." Joe laughed, then stole a kiss. "Night Barbie."

"Night Joe."

Barbie woke up first in the morning; he snuck out to the kitchen and started making breakfast. He was going to spoil Joe today, it was all part of his master plan.

The smell of coffee woke Joe up; he staggered down the stairs into the kitchen, where he found Barbie making waffles and frying hash browns and eggs. Joe watched Barbie for a minute before going over and wrapping his arms around Barbie's waist and leaning in to kiss him.

"Mm...morning." Joe said.

"Mornin." Barbie said, pulling away slightly before things got going too far. "Hey now, no making me burn breakfast." he teased. "Or I'll have to beat you with this here spatula."

"Kinky." Joe said. "Bring it."

"Joe." Barbie said. Joe could tell that Barbie was showing great restraint to not tackle Joe to the kitchen floor and have his way right then and there, so Joe stopped. He didn't want to press his luck. Especially when Barbie said he had a surprise in store.

Joe sat the table, and helped Barbie finish getting breakfast finished up; they sat down and were eating when Barbie said, "So, the Disneyland tickets are here. I think we could leave Thursday night after you get off, if that's ok? I know you had taken Friday off."

"Yeah." Joe agreed. "That was the plan."

"Alright." Barbie took a few more bites before he spoke again. "I also have a surprise trip for us- our honeymoon, so to speak- planned in the beginning of November. I have the tickets booked for November 2-5. You can take off work, right?"

"Of course." Joe said. "And if they won't give me paid time off, I'll just take the time off anyway."

"Ok." Barbie said. "And it would work out perfectly; we could get back to Chester's Mill, and use the present Joe and Angie got us to have a couple extra days."

"We could." Joe said. "But I think we should save that for a little, and take a mini vacation after the holidays."

"That could work too." Barbie agreed. "Let's just table that idea for now. We have a lot to plan for right now."

"Yes we do." Joe agreed. As they finished breakfast, they worked out all the plans for the Disneyland trip; they planned to tell Giana later on in the afternoon.

Joe cleaned up the table and was just getting ready to go get the paper when there was a loud crash from Giana's room and some crying. Joe and Barbie both raced up to see what was going on.

Barbie and Joe raced up the stairs to Giana's room. They made it to the door and peered it.

"Giana?" Joe called.

"I'm ok." came the muffled reply.

"We're coming in." Barbie said. Joe and Barbie made their way into the room and had to stifle a laugh when they realized what had happened.

Giana was on the floor, and her closet rod was on the floor beside her. She was buried under a mountain of clothes that had fallen off the rod.

Barbie and Joe carefully extricated Giana from the bundle of clothes. Barbie took a look at the wall. "It ripped it right out of the wall." Barbie said after he finished his inspection.

"No more t-shirts." Joe teased.

After checking one more time to make sure Giana was ok, they both exited the room. Joe said he was going to make a quick trip to the store, and then they could tell Giana about the trip to Disneyland. Barbie agreed, and said he was going to try to fix the closet rod.

Joe returned from the store a short time later, with all the things Barbie had called to ask him to buy. Barbie was just remeasuring the closet and looking at the wooden block in front of him.

"This could work." Barbie mumbled to himself, unaware that Joe was standing right behind him.

"It could, huh?" Joe asked. Barbie shot straight upright, scared. Joe couldn't help but laugh. "Calm down cowboy, it's just me."

"You scared the living heck out of me." Barbie said. Giana chose that moment to start crying, having woken up from her nap. "And Giana too, from the looks of it."

"Sorry." Joe said. "You just looked so deep in concentration that I didn't want to interrupt you."

"It's all good." Barbie said, taking the items that Joe held out. "Thanks. I should be done in about 25 minutes or so. Take Giana with you downstairs, and I'll be down shortly?"

"Yep." Joe said. He left another bag on the bed. "This is for before you come downstairs." When Barbie gave him a questioning look, Joe just answered, "You'll see."

Barbie was pretty accurate on his timetable for the repair; it took him about 30 minutes (and a couple of well-covered curses) to fix the closet rod. He finished up and then looked in the bag Joe had left for him. _You have got to be kidding me_. Barbie thought when he looked at what was inside. _It's for Giana, so I'll do it, but Joe is going to pay. Big time_.

Joe could hear Barbie's footsteps as he started down the stairs, so he got Giana's attention. "Look at who's here." He fired up the video camera.

Giana turned around as Barbie entered the living room. "Mickey!!" she screeched, running over to tackle "Mickey".

"Oh boy!" Barbie did in Mickey's best impression. It didn't sound right, and Giana caught onto it. "Mickey? You ok?"

 _Thank god I can work my way out of this one_. Barbie thought. "Oh, Giana, I'm fine. Just have a little cold is all."

"Feel better Mickey." she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"I will be. Especially by the time you come to see me."

Giana's eyes widened to the size of saucers. "What?" she asked, looking between Joe and Mickey. 

"We're going to Disneyland." Joe said. Giana came barreling towards him. 

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she said, gripping Joe in a tight hug. "I love you."

"Love you too babygirl." Joe said. Giana climbed out of Joe's lap and went over to "Mickey" and gave him a hug too. "I love you too Mickey. I'll see you soon."

"Me and Minnie will be waiting. Bye bye Giana." Mickey walked away, and Giana went back over to Joe, who still had the camera running. "Thank you." she said again. "I wish daddy could have seen Mickey. Where is he?"

"I wish he could have too." Joe said, shutting off the camera. "I think he was just finishing up in your room."

Barbie came down the stairs, and Giana immediately ran over to him. "Daddy, Mickey was just here, and we're going to Disneyland!" she twirled around. "Joe taped it."

 _I'll kill him later for that_. Barbie thought as he spoke. "Oh, he did, did he? Let's see it then."

They watched the video, and afterwards, Barbie said. "I would have liked to meet Mickey." Barbie admitted. "But I'll get to when we go to Disneyland soon."

"Yeah." Giana said. She looked so happy, so Barbie couldn't be too mad at Joe. He'd get his revenge later on anyway.

Giana ran up the stairs to put on her Belle dress so they could watch Beauty and The Beast; Barbie talked to Joe in hushed tones (since Giana seemed to be able to hear everything from a mile away). "Brilliant idea. But why did I have to be Mickey?"

"I couldn't find a costume in my size." Joe admitted. "I was looking forward to doing it."

"At least it's on tape. We can always embarrass her dates later with that one." Barbie laughed.

Giana came back down the stairs. "Ok. I'm ready daddy."

"Let's make some popcorn, and then we'll be good to go." Barbie said. "Butter or extra butter?"

"Extra Extra butter." Joe and Giana said in unison and started giggling.

"Extra butter it is." Barbie made the popcorn, and then they sat down on the couch, Giana in the middle, and watched the movie. Giana was wound up after it, and it was still early in the afternoon, so Joe decided they should head to the park and work out some of her extra energy.

Joe's plan worked brilliantly, Giana passed out on the way home, and Barbie had to carry her for a few blocks. They tucked her in then went down to the kitchen table.

"I think..." Joe started, only to stop. He wasn't sure how to word what he wanted to say. Sure, he could just spit it out, but if it came out wrong, things could end very badly. Joe wrestled with different thoughts in his head.

"Yes?" Barbie prompted. "You think what?"

 _Well, just spit it out. If he freaks, he freaks out_. Joe's brain rationalized. Joe opened his mouth to talk, but nothing would come out at first. He cleared his throat, and tried again. "I think after Disneyland and our honeymoon, that we should start looking into the adoption process."

"Joe..." Barbie's voice was a clear warning, but Joe went ahead and continued on anyway.

"I mean, Dale," Joe said. He never used Barbie's first name unless it was serious. "The process takes forever. We could at least look at what it's going to entail. I don't mean we have to do it right away."

Barbie looked at Joe. _Ah, crap, he's not going to let this go is he? Barbie thought. I mean, I see where he's coming from and all, but it's hard enough with just Giana. You throw in an extra little body, and I think it's going to be terror on wheels_. "Joe, I'll make you a deal. We can look, but that's it. Then we talk about it a lot more before we make any kind of decision."

"Deal." Joe said. At least he'd gotten Barbie to think about the idea. Where it went from there was anyone's guess. "Thank you."

"Of course." Barbie said. They finished their coffee in silence, then made their way to the living room.

Joe knew that Barbie was mad, but that he was trying to pretend that nothing was wrong for Giana's sake. (They had always tried to not let her see them fight.) Barbie was only talking to Joe when he needed to, except for when Giana was around. Joe finally had enough, and once Giana was in bed, he finally spoke his peace.

"Look, it's obvious that you're mad about this, so just forget it. It was a stupid idea." Joe said.

"No, it's not..." Barbie said.

"Then why are you so against it?" Joe asked.

Barbie paused. Joe did have a point there. Why was he getting so upset over something so trivial? It was finally time to tell Joe the secret that Barbie had been keeping for many years.

"I had a sibling." Barbie started. "Her name was Melanie."

"Wait..." Joe interrupted Barbie. "Melanie? As in Melanie from Zenith? The girl that supposedly found an egg or something and then died?"

"That was her." Barbie nodded. "She was actually a half sibling. Dad did some stuff he shouldn't have. I won't ever forget her coming to the house and saying 'my mom said I should meet you.' Then my mom put two and two together. She kicked my dad out for a while, paid for Melanie's mom to move away with Melanie and never come back. It was the day they were supposed to leave, and no one could find Melanie. I was the one who found her in the hole." Barbie paused for a minute as everything came back to him. "My mom said that there was an accident. I never had proof, but I think she killed her."

"Oh my gosh, Barbie, I'm so sorry...I didn't know." Joe immediately felt bad for pressing the issue all the time; Barbie had a lot to deal with.

"I know you didn't." Barbie said. "And I had intended to keep it that way. It's just, it's not fair for me to be selfish with my reasons why I don't really want more kids. It's just that I don't want Giana to have to go through what I did."

"I know what you mean." Joe said. "I can't imagine losing Angie. But Barbie, it'll be ok. That wouldn't ever happen." Joe knew he was making a promise that he couldn't keep, and was kind of undermining what Barbie had just said.

"I don't know." Barbie said.

"Hey, look on the bright side." Joe said. "If we ever got divorced, there wouldn't be a fight over who got the kids, we could each have one." Joe laughed, so Barbie knew that it was a joke.

"Yeah, I guess." Barbie said. "I just need some more time to think, ok?"

"Ok. You tell me when you're ready." Joe said. "And if you ever need someone to talk to, I'm always here."

"I know." Barbie grabbed Joe's hand. "Thanks."

"Of course." Joe said. He let Barbie pull him in close, and they sat in silence for a while, the only sound in the room was them breathing. 

Barbie finally broke the silence. "I think I'm gonna head up to bed. You coming?"

"I'll be up in a few minutes." Joe said. He waited until he was sure that Barbie was out of sight, before looking up the Zenith Cemetery address.

Barbie and Joe were waiting for Giana to get up the next morning when Joe slid Barbie the piece of paper. Barbie took a look at it, then said, "Why did you give me the address to the Zenith Cemetery?"

"I thought you might want to go visit her grave." Joe said.

"I had thought about it." Barbie admitted. "I haven't been there since before my mom died. She caught me out there, and I got bet so hard that I could barely sit for a week."

"Oh my gosh." Joe said. Barbie's mom sounded really bad when it came to Melanie.

"Yeah. I decided I wouldn't go again." Barbie paused before continuing. "I know it wasn't fair to Melanie, and it wasn't her fault."

"Yeah." Joe agreed.

"I think it would be nice to go out there today." Barbie said. "We can show Giana, and tell her about 'Aunt Melanie'. I don't know, maybe we can go visit my dad too...he hasn't seen Giana since she was a baby. I should probably work on my relationship with him too."

"One thing at a time, ok?" Joe said. "Don't try to go from zero to sixty all at once. The cemetery and seeing your dad sound ok. The relationship might need to wait a little though."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Barbie said. "Thank you for listening to me and all my problems."

"You bet. Thank you for listening to mine too." Joe replied.

Giana came downstairs a few minutes later with her hair sticking up in a bunch of different directions. Barbie and Joe shared a laugh, and Joe took Giana up to the bathroom to get her in the shower so they could get ready to go to Zenith.

"Where we going?" Giana asked as they got into the car. Sunday road trips were few and far between for them.

"We're going to a very special place sweetie." Barbie said. "Somewhere that Daddy's been meaning to go to for a long time."

"Oh." That seemed to satisfy Giana's curiosity for a minute. Both Barbie and Joe knew that she would start asking more and more questions the closer they got to Zenith.

"I need you to help me pick out some flowers." Joe told Giana. "Can you help me do that?"

"Yes." Giana said. "I'll help you and daddy."

"That's my girl." They both said in unison.

After a quick stop at the store (where Giana picked out a multi-colored bouquet of tulips. Barbie felt a little tug at his heartstrings, tulips were always Melanie's favorite flower), they were on the road to Zenith.

"Why are we going here?" Giana asked as they drove through the countryside (it sure felt like it- there was nothing but fields in between Chester's Mill and Zenith).

"You'll see soon Gigi." Barbie said.

"Ok." Joe started playing games with Giana the longer the drive got; having a young kid on a road trip was hard sometimes.

They finally made it to the Zenith Cemetery. They grabbed Giana, who had fallen asleep about ten miles away from Zenith, and made their way to Melanie's grave. Giana woke up with all the uneven ground that they were walking on.

"Are we there?" she sleepily mumbled.

"Yep baby." Barbie said. "I want you to look at this."

Giana turned in Joe's arms and looked at the gravestone. Barbie started to talk.

"This is someone who was very special to daddy." Barbie started. "Her name was Melanie. She would have been your aunt, if she was alive when you were born. She was one of the brightest, smartest people daddy knew. She had so much potential ahead of her before she went up to Heaven."

Giana looked between Joe and Barbie. "Aunt?"

"Yes. She was daddy's sister." Barbie said. "She was so funny." Barbie said.

Joe grabbed onto Barbie's hand, sensing that he needed that right now. Giana wriggled from Joe and went over to Barbie, where she latched her arms around his neck and wouldn't let go. "I love you daddy."

"Love you too baby." Barbie said. They placed the flowers on Melanie's grave, then headed back to the car. "We're going to meet someone else you haven't seen since you were a baby." Barbie said.

"Ok." Joe and Giana played a game on the short drive over to Barbie's dad's place. Barbie went in first, saying he'd text Joe when it was safe to come in (Barbie wasn't sure how his dad was going to react- the last time they'd seen each other was the night of the alleged "break in". Barbie didn't want Giana to see him and his dad fighting).

The text came a couple minutes after Barbie went in. Come on in. He's cool.

Joe and Giana made their way into the house. Barbie's dad greeted them both like they had been members of the family forever.

"Giana, this is daddy's dad." Barbie said. "He's your grandpa."

"Grandpa?" Giana asked, unsure of the man in front of her.

"Yep." Joe said.

"It'll take her a little to warm up to you." Barbie reassured his dad. "She doesn't do well with strangers."

"You taught her well I see." his dad since, without malice or implications.

"Learned from the best." Barbie said.

They spent a little more time in Zenith (and Giana eventually came around to Barbie's dad), and then they headed home. Giana was out like a light the minute the car started moving.

Giana was asleep in the backseat (and kind of having a wheezing sound when she was breathing- she must be getting congested- Barbie would make sure to get her looked at on Monday), so Barbie and Joe turned down the stereo volume and talked.

"You did good today." Joe said. "How do you feel?"

"Ok." Barbie said. "I feel like there's been a huge weight lifted off my shoulders."

Joe grabbed Barbie's hand that was resting on the console. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks." Barbie gripped Joe's hand. "Dad apologized to me, and I apologized to him. We're going to meet up next weekend and talk. That's ok I hope."

"Of course." Joe replied. "I'll take Giana to the mall or something."

"Sounds good to me." Barbie agreed. "You have anything you need before we get home?"

"Nope. I was thinking of sandwiches for dinner."

"Awesome." They made it home and ate, then Joe went up to his room for a minute; he suddenly didn't feel good.

He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew, Barbie was climbing into the bed.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"Yeah." Joe admitted, "But it's ok. Needed to change into pajamas anyway."

"You feeling any better?" Barbie asked.

"A little." Joe said. He and Barbie fell asleep; they were woken up in the morning to Giana bouncing on the bed. "Disneyland!" she said.

Joe pinched the bridge of his nose. _What made me think I'd be able to travel with Giana for three hours on a plane?_

Barbie looked over at Joe. His look said it all. _Sorry._

Joe sent his own look back. _It's ok._

Giana finally fell asleep; Barbie and Joe talked. "Sorry." Barbie said. "I know it's hard to travel with kids."

"It's ok. I knew that going into it."

"It's not fair to you."

"Yes it is. It's part of parenting a toddler. I agreed to this, remember?"

"Right." Barbie said. He still wasn't sure how Joe took it in stride some days- he would have expected Joe to be pitching a scene or something about how this wasn't his job since "he wasn't her actual dad."

"Barbie, it's ok." Joe said, as if he was reading Barbie's mind. "Really. She's like my own daughter. Let's just make it to the hotel, ok? We'll take it from there."

"Yeah." Barbie said. He finally fell asleep (he wasn't meaning to, but he closed his eyes for a minute, and that was it), and the pilot's voice telling them that it was time to fasten their seatbelts to prepare for landing woke Barbie up. He looked over and found Joe and Giana playing tic-tac-toe (on the magnetic board that they had bought in the airport) and softly laughing. Barbie couldn't help the smile that crept onto his face. This was adorable.

"Ready for landing?" Barbie asked, checking on Giana's seatbelt (the girl was a wiggler; they sometimes called her Houdini with her ability to get out of belts and clothes).

"Yep." she said, grabbing on to both Joe and Barbie's hands. Landing was better than takeoff, and they disembarked from the plane and made their way to get their bags.

Barbie got the rental car paperwork signed, and they were on their way to the hotel.

Giana was out again the minute they got to the room; Barbie and Joe let her sleep as they unpacked, then they too set down. They were only planning on relaxing for a minute (to unwind from the stress of the plane ride and drive); instead, they both fell asleep as well. Joe was the first one to crack his eyes open. He saw Giana was still sleeping peacefully (and it was only 3 pm), so he closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

The next time either one of them woke up was when Giana climbed in between them. "Papa? Daddy?"

"Hm? What baby?" Barbie asked as he woke up.

"Hungry." she said.

"Me too." Barbie whispered. "Let's wake up Joe and go get something to eat."

"Yeah."

Waking up Joe was easy (he was already awake but was faking being asleep- he'd woken up the moment Giana had crawled into bed with them), and they went down to the hotel's restaurant.

After dinner, it was back to bed; they were all exhausted from the trip.

Giana woke up the next morning at the crack of dawn; she knew today was the day that she got to go meet Mickey for the first time.

"We have to eat first honey." Joe said. "We'll be there before you know it though, ok? Daddy and I will make sure of it."

"Ok." That seemed to placate Giana for a few; she made it through breakfast and let Barbie braid her hair (normally an easy task- but a fidgety Giana made it a little harder to get a pretty braid, and they were off.

Giana started bouncing in her car seat the minute she could see the castle in the distance. Barbie and Joe shared a grin.

They finally made it to Disneyland and found a parking spot. Barbie got Giana out of the back seat and strapped the monkey backpack to her. "Remember what we talked about." Barbie said.

"Don't leave you or Joe. Take our time. Be patient." Giana repeated what Barbie had been saying all morning.

"Right." Joe said. "Let's go have some fun."

"Ok." They entered the castle doors, and were immediately were greeted by Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Giana's eyes widened. "Daddy! Joe! Mickey."

"I see." Barbie said as Joe pulled out his camera and started taking photos.

Giana grabbed Barbie's hand and tried to drag him towards the main walkway.

"Slow Gigi." Barbie said.

"Oh, right." She took smaller steps and was patient (as patient as a three year old could be, that is).

They made it a third of the way through the park; Barbie figured they could do the other two thirds tomorrow (she wouldn't get most of the teenaged themed things), and they'd still have two full days to ride all the rides.

That night, Giana fell asleep cuddling with her new plush Mickey Mouse that Joe had bought her (he couldn't tell Giana no); Joe snapped a picture and then he and Barbie went to bed themselves.

In the morning, after breakfast, it was back to Disneyland; Barbie was right- they breezed through all of the teenaged exhibits. Giana was either too confused by them or didn't like them.

"Hey Giana, guess what?" Barbie looked over at Giana as they ate breakfast on Friday morning.

"What daddy?"

"There's fireworks tonight. Do you want to watch them?"

"Yes please."

"We can do that." Joe said. That would be perfect- she would be tired out and (hopefully) sleep on the plane ride home tomorrow.

They spent the day riding all the rides again (Giana's was "It's a Small World"), and then it was time for the fireworks. They were sitting there when Belle came and sat down by them. "Can I watch them with you?"

"Sure." Giana said, as her eyes widened. Joe couldn't help himself- he snapped a picture. She was with her favorite Disney character, and he could use this as blackmail when she got older.

After the fireworks, it was back to the hotel; Giana was out the minute her head hit the pillow. Joe and Barbie did the packing and then headed to bed themselves.

As they fell asleep, Joe said, "This was fun. Thanks."

"Thank you." Barbie said. "You've made this so much fun. And we'll have a gazillion memories thanks to all the pics."

Barbie and Joe fell asleep. The wake-up call in the morning was the next thing they remembered.

Giana was good; she slept the whole plane ride (until they hit some turbulence just before they landed).

It was a quick dinner and then to bed night; the unpacking could wait until tomorrow. It'd been a long day, and they all needed their rest.

Sunday was a family day; they were still trying to unwind from the trip. Monday was a long day too- Joe really disliked that 4 providers were there in the morning, and there were only 4 nurses. Plus, with all the walk-ins at the beginning of the day, it really sucked. After lunch, it usually calmed down a touch, but it was still really busy.

Barbie didn’t say anything when Joe got home and gave Giana a quick hug and kiss before saying he was going to take a shower and then be back down for dinner; he knew Joe needed to decompress and have some time to himself. If Joe wanted to talk about it, he would.

Dinner and dishes were a quick affair; Giana was in bed quickly afterwards- she was trying to get back on Chester's Mill time after being on Disneyland time. Barbie and Joe were on the couch, and Barbie looked at Joe and stole a kiss. "Wanna talk about it?"

Joe leaned into Barbie's embrace. "God, it sucks. We're being pulled in what feels like a million directions, and it doesn't seem like it's good enough. And then the walk-ins pile up, but the one doctor says that his patients come first. It's hard." Joe finished, breathing out a huge sigh. "I don't know how much longer I can do it."

"Hey, look at me." Barbie said. Joe turned his head upwards. "You are a damn good nurse, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. It's their own fault for putting you guys in the predicament you're in. If you want to quit, I'm behind you 100%. I just want you happy."

"Thanks." Joe said, stealing another kiss. "I love you."

"Love you too." Barbie said, picking Joe up. "Let me carry you up to bed."

"Ok." Joe laughed. This was kind of nice.

Joe had no idea what Barbie had in store the next morning. Joe came downstairs and found Giana and Barbie at the kitchen table eating. "Morning!" Joe said, reaching for the coffee pot.

"Morning. Come have a seat." Barbie said. "We have a surprise for you."

"You do, huh?" Joe asked. He was actually kind of worried; a surprise on a work day could be interesting.

"Yep." Giana said, grinning at Joe with a mouth full of pancakes.

"Chew and swallow." Joe said. Giana did, and then Barbie handed Joe the piece of paper.

"You can't open it until you get to work." Barbie said. "But I think you'll like it."

"Alright. Call you at lunch." Joe said. He grabbed his coffee mug and was out the door after giving both Giana and Barbie kisses goodbye. He forgot all about the paper Barbie had handed him until lunchtime. Joe opened it.

_Joe,_

_I know I don't tell you this enough, but I am so freaking proud of you. You always manage to make Giana and me smile when we're having bad days, and I've seen the way you calm patients down. You are one hell of a nurse, but more than that, you are one hell of an amazing person. I am so glad I met you and that you are in Giana's and my lives._

_Things are tough right now I know, but it'll get better soon. You can always talk to me if you need to. I'll always listen to you and maybe even have the right thing to say now and then._

_Love you more than you could ever imagine_

_Barbie._

Joe felt the tears sting his eyes. The letter was just what he needed right now. He called Barbie. "Thanks for making me cry. I'm glad I'm alone in the break room."

"Sorry," Barbie said. "But I meant everything I wrote."

"I know you did." Joe smiled. "Thank you. Love you too, and I'll see you when I get off. It should be around 6-ish tonight. Do you want me to pick up pizza for dinner?"

"Sure. If you feel like it. We'll decide that when you get off, ok?"

"Alright." Joe said. "Give Giana a hug and kiss from me. See you guys tonight."

"Will do. Love you."

"Love you too."

Joe brought home pizza after he was off work; they ate it and then Giana took her bath and went to bed. Joe and Barbie ended up at the kitchen table, talking.

"How was today?" Barbie asked.

"Better. One of the doctors is on vacation, so we only had two providers working. And we're out of some flu shots right now, so that lessens the load too."

"I'm glad to hear that things are getting a little more relaxed." Barbie said. "Have you heard any more on how your nurse is doing? Is she going to make it the full 40 weeks?"

"Not sure." Joe said. "She and her husband came in the other day, and she looked really good. Tired, but that's expected. They're saying she can stop her meds, which are keeping her from going into premature labor, soon. She's thinking she'll have the baby pretty soon after the meds are stopped. I'm hoping for a Halloween baby." Joe said.

"Ah crap, it is almost Halloween, isn't it?" Barbie asked. "We haven't even thought of a costume for Giana yet."

"I got one in mind." Joe said. "And you could do the hair just perfect, I know it."

"We gonna play twenty questions?" Barbie teased, even though he was pretty sure he knew what Joe was thinking.

"Elsa from Frozen." Joe said. Barbie stared for a second. _Ok. Not who I was thinking. That's even better than the one I was thinking of. Not that Belle isn't pretty or nothing, but Giana's been Belle for the last two years. Time for a change._

"I like it." Barbie said. "And if she doesn't like it, we can just..."

"Let it go." Joe answered at the same time. They laughed. Joe and Barbie cleaned up the table and then made their way to the couch.

"You feel like watching any TV?" Barbie asked.

"Not really. I just want to sit on the couch and hold onto you if that's ok." Joe admitted. He'd been really stressed the last few days; Barbie always knew how to make things better. And most times, he didn't have to say anything at all.

"Sure." Barbie said. He arranged himself so he was comfortable on the couch, and Joe filled in the empty space between them. Barbie just held on to Joe and rubbed his back. He didn't say a word, but his actions said it all.

After a while, Joe was relaxed enough that he was starting to fall asleep. Barbie gently nudged Joe. "Let's go up to bed, yeah? You'll hurt like heck if you sleep on the couch."

"Ok." Joe sleepily mumbled. He barely made it upstairs before he crashed out on the bed and fell asleep; Barbie pulled the covers over Joe and went to check on Giana, who was sound asleep. Barbie turned off the overhead light and switched on her night light and closed the door halfway. Joe was snoring by the time Barbie came back into the room, and Barbie couldn't help the little snicker that came out. _He always says he doesn't snore. I'll show him._ Barbie grabbed the camera and filmed Joe for a second, catching a few loud snores on the tape. Then Barbie too climbed into bed and fell asleep. It'd been a long day for everyone, but the weekend was soon approaching. They'd have to go do something fun and just forget about real life for a day or so. Barbie started coming up with plans in his mind.

As he finally drifted off, Barbie's mind focused on the one thing he knew could make Joe forget about all the stress in the world; Giana would love to see all the animals too. _Nature Park it is. Saturday_. Barbie thought in his head. 

Joe made it through the rest of the week without too many more issues (he might have had a mini breakdown when the doctors called him into the office to ask about a vitals discrepancy- it was an honest mistake- he had forgotten to save the vital signs in the chart and he hadn't written them down like he normally did. The one nurse practitioner didn't even talk to him about it first; she just went to the doctors. It kind of pissed Joe off, if he was truthful. What happened to the 'if you have a problem, go to the person first' mentality that they had been taught. Barbie reassured him that everything was going to be ok, and if it wasn't that it was the company's loss); Saturday came, and Joe had it off, so Barbie woke everyone up really early with breakfast and told them that they were going on a trip today. 

"Where to?" Giana and Joe asked in unison. Barbie just grinned and said, "You'll have to wait and find out."

Joe figured it out when they were about three quarters of the way there. "Are we going to the nature park?" he whispered. Barbie didn't answer too loudly, he just nodded with a silent "yep". "Giana's never been there, so I thought why not." Barbie quietly replied.

"Sounds like fun." Joe said, turning around to look at Giana. She was sound asleep in her car seat. Her head was cocked to one side, and it made Joe's neck just hurt looking at it. Kids and their weird ways of sleeping.

They pulled into the driveway for the nature park; Giana woke up as the car came to a stop. "Are we there yet?" she asked. Joe couldn't help the chuckle that escaped.

"Yes, we are." he said. They started moving again, slowly following the trail. Giana's eyes widened as she saw all of the animals. "Wow." they heard her say a lot of the time. She also named some of the animals as they drove by.

Barbie drove with one hand on the wheel, the other gripped Joe's hand. "Thought you could use this, just to get away from it all for a day." Barbie said as Giana shrieked with laughter at the giraffe that tried to put his head in her window.

"I like it a lot. Thank you." Joe said, squeezing Barbie's hand.

They finished the tour (which took about two hours), and then on the way home, Barbie drove them to the ice cream store. "Who wants ice cream?" he asked. Joe stared at Barbie for a second, his look conveying, _You do how hyper this is going to make her, right?_

 _I got it._ Barbie shot a look back. "Only a small one though. We still need to eat dinner."

"Ok." Giana picked out a plain cone and vanilla ice cream. She put some sprinkles on top, and that was it. Joe got his standard chocolate ice cream with Oreo cookies on top, and Barbie got the cinnamon ice cream with red hots as a topping. They ate the ice cream, then drove home, where Joe made salad and homemade croutons (his favorite food in the world), and after they ate, they sat down to watch cartoons (it was Giana's day to control the TV).

Halloween was fast approaching; Joe bought the costume for Giana while Barbie learned how to do the "Elsa" braid. Giana wasn't sure about being Elsa at first, but she quickly warmed up to the idea. If Barbie and Joe had to watch "Frozen" a bazillion times so Giana could get the moves right (and they could get "Let It Go" stuck in their heads for days on end), it was a thing they had to deal with.

Joe had to work half a day on Halloween; when he got home, Barbie was just finishing up with giving Giana a bath. Barbie dried off Giana and then put her in one of his button up shirts, so he could do her hair and not have it get messed up when it was time to switch into her costume. Giana ran over and gave Joe a hug before Barbie started on her hair.

Barbie had Giana sit on the floor in the living room; he sat down on the couch and started braiding. Joe watched in awe as Giana's hair went from wild tangled mess to a gorgeous braid that would have made Elsa jealous (if she was a real person). Barbie put the finishing touches on it, then turned around to find Joe standing there. "What do you think?" Barbie asked.

"I think it looks awesome." Joe said. "You did a really good job."

"Aw, thanks." Barbie said, cheeks turning pink. He wasn't used to being praised for doing "girlie" things.

"I love it daddy." Giana said, coming over and giving Barbie a big hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome baby."

Giana was bouncing off of the walls until it was time to go out trick or treating; Barbie and Joe kept having to tell her to calm down. Finally, they decided to put on Frozen. It worked, and Giana stayed put in front of the TV and was quiet until it was time for her to go get ready.

Joe helped Giana get into her costume; they looked up how to do Elsa's makeup (something Barbie was hesitant to do at first; Giana pleaded with him. "I won't look like her unless I wear make-up". Barbie relented, but only if Giana would take it off the minute she got home; he wasn't quite ready for his little girl to look like a grown-up), and then it was time to go out into the neighborhood and go trick or treating.

Giana did really good, and when they got home, she followed Barbie's order and immediately went into the bathroom; Joe helped her out of the costume first and then helped her wash off her face. They went through the candy; Barbie and Joe inspected each piece carefully, and let Giana eat a couple. Then it was time for her to be off to bed. She had both Joe and Barbie read her a bedtime story, and after that was done, Barbie and Joe went back downstairs and hid the candy so Giana wouldn't be able to find it easily.

"I forgot to ask you." Barbie said as they drank a cup of tea. "Did you get the time off?"

"Yep. Talked to Angie, and her and Joe agreed to watch Giana. We can drop her off in the morning before we leave." Joe said.

"Cool." Barbie said.

"You going to tell me where we're going yet?" Joe asked; he still had no clue what Barbie had planned.

"Nope, not till we get there." Barbie said. "Gotta be a surprise."

"No fair." Joe said with a smile."

"Is too. Come on, it's bedtime. We got lots to do before we leave."

Joe threw some things into a suitcase; Barbie hadn't really told him what to pack, so Joe had thrown in both warm and cold weather clothes. He also tossed in his toiletries and miscellaneous things he thought he might need on the trip.

Barbie was still being really secretive, and Joe felt his anxiety rising a little more each time Barbie wouldn't give a straight answer to Joe's questions. I have to trust him. Joe thought.

They dropped Giana off at Angie and Junior's; it was just the two of them on the road to the motel by the airport. Once they got it, Joe called Angie to let her know everything was ok, and he and Barbie settled in to the room.

Giana called later that night, while Joe was in the shower. He thought he heard Barbie say something about "Hawaii", but he wasn't sure if it was because "Hawaii Five-O" was on, or the water made it sound like "Hawaii." (Joe couldn't really hear anything with the water thrumming around him.

Joe got out of the shower and told Giana "good night", and then he and Barbie climbed into bed. They watched some aimless TV, and then as they were turning out the light, Joe tried one more time to get information out of Barbie.

"Have to wait until tomorrow." Barbie grinned. Joe playfully whacked him and said, "No fair." and they fell asleep. Joe had dreams of all the various places he could think of that Barbie knew that Joe liked- and yes, Hawaii was one of them.

The next morning, they were both up at the crack of dawn. They ate breakfast at the hotel, and then were off to the airport. Barbie started a scavenger hunt (once they'd made it through security- Joe still didn't know where they were headed- they were part of the express check-in, and Barbie had handed over the tickets and whispered in the security guard's ear) since they had "about two hours until our flight will start boarding." Joe took a look at the departures board, and there were way too many places for him to try to narrow down which flight was theirs. There wasn't one to Hawaii though that Joe saw. _The plot thickens._

Finally, Barbie grabbed Joe's hand. "Ok. We need to get to the "B" terminal. They made their way over there, but Joe still had no idea where they were going from there; the list of flights looked similar to the one he had seen in the main terminal.

Barbie finally dropped a clue. "We're between gates B1 and B10." Joe went back over to the flight board and looked for all flights departing in approximately a half-hour. _Boston B1. New York B2. San Diego B3. Houston B4. Detroit B5. Vancouver B.C. B6. Toronto B7. Jacksonville B8. Kansas City B9. Annapolis B10._

"Oh god, don't tell me we're going to Annapolis." Joe teased. Barbie laughed, "Wait and see. Maybe, maybe not."

 _My money is on Boston._ Joe thought; they had always talked about going there and seeing it in the fall.

Finally, Barbie said, "Ok. Time to go." He pointed them in the direction of gates B1-B5. They passed each gate individually, and Barbie asked, "Ok, which one do you think it is?"

"Gate 1?" Joe guessed. He honestly had no clue.

"Why don't you take a look and see?" Barbie said, finally handing over the ticket. Joe peered down at it. "San Diego?" he asked.

"That's just the layover spot." Barbie said. "Another guessing game will begin once we get in the air."

"Oh boy. You're going to keep me guessing, aren't you?" Joe teased.

"Always." Barbie smiled back.

They boarded the flight, and it was time for Joe to figure out their next destination.

Joe wasn't sure where they were going to go once they landed in San Diego; all he knew was that there was about an hour in between the two flights. Barbie wasn't giving many clues either. Joe kind of got grumpy with the whole deal and sulked in his seat. Barbie chose that moment to look over at Joe.

"Ah, come on, don't be mad." Barbie said. "I just wanted to have a little fun and totally surprise you."

"I'm not mad." Joe admitted. "I'm just so used to knowing everything that is going on. This is weird for me, ok?"

"You'll like it. I promise." Barbie said. "Giana helped me pick it out."

"She did, huh?" Joe asked. "And just how did she do that?"

"I showed her pictures on the computer and asked her to point out which one she thought was the prettiest." Barbie laughed. "I know, my methods weren't really that great."

"I think they were kind of cool." Joe said. They sat in silence for a moment, before Joe asked, "Will you give me a clue?"

"Hm...there's a sunrise and a sunset that's to die for?" Barbie replied. If he said much more, he might give it away.

"No help." Joe smiled. "That could be a lot of places." 

"Tell you what. They usually say which terminal to catch your next flight at. I bet if you listen really close, you'll be able to figure out which one is ours."

"You think so?" Joe asked. "That's like 10 different destinations."

"I think you'll know right away." Barbie smiled.

The plane ride seemed to go one forever; Joe fell asleep in his seat and slumped over, leaning into Barbie. Barbie let Joe sleep until it was time for them to approach for landing.

"Ok. Listen carefully." Barbie said. Joe did as he was told, the flight attendant listed off all the different destinations at the San Diego Airport and where to catch the next flight, and thanked them for flying on the airline. Joe turned to Barbie, and the look on Barbie's face said it all.

"Our destination wasn't on that list, was it?" Joe asked. Barbie nodded in agreement.

"I really thought it would be Joe. I'm sorry."

"Hey. No problem. Keep me guessing, yeah?" Joe tried to lighten the mood; it appeared to work. When they walked into the airport, Barbie and Joe headed straight for the flight board.

Barbie pulled out the tickets. "It says gate C1 on here. What's the board say C1 is?"

"Uh," Joe looked at the screen. "Denver."

"Nope." Barbie laughed. "Guess we'll have to look at all of the C gate spots now. Barbie scanned the list and then said. "C11."

Joe took a look. "Hilo?" Barbie's smile indicated that Joe had got the right answer. "We're going to Hawaii?"

"Yep." Barbie said. "I knew how much you always wanted to go there."

"Thanks." Joe said. How had Barbie remembered that? That was from like their second date after becoming an official couple.

"Of course. That's part 1 of 2 though." Barbie grinned. "And, I won't make you guess it. On the way back, we're stopping in Seattle to see the Space Needle."

"Awesome!" Joe said. He knew that was on Barbie's bucket list too. "Thank you so much."

"Of course. Let's go get our bags and then Hawaii, here we come."

The flight to Hawaii was short; before Joe knew it, he and Barbie were deboarding the plane and being welcomed to Hawaii by getting a lei placed around their neck. "I got lei'd in Hawaii" Joe joked with Barbie; Barbie playfully whacked Joe.

"That sounded so wrong." he teased. "But, I know what you were getting at."

They spent the two days they were there sightseeing and being tourists; Barbie also somehow (and Joe really didn't want to know how), figured out where Hawaii Five-O was filming that day. They went and Joe got to meet the cast. He managed not to make too big of a fool (or a fangirl) out of himself when he met Alex O'Loughlin (Steve), and Scott Caan (Danny). 

As they went back to the beachside cabana hotel that night, Joe told Barbie thanks for everything.

"Of course. You deserve it Joe."

"But we haven't done anything you wanted to do yet." Joe protested.

"We will." Barbie said. "Just wait for Seattle. That's where most of the stuff I wanted is at."

"Ok."

Joe really hated to leave Hawaii in the morning; he'd miss the mild temperatures and the breathtaking views, but soon he and Barbie were on a plane to Seattle, and once they landed, Joe was all about making this Barbie's part of the trip.

They saw the Space Needle the first day; Joe wasn't really wanting to go up in it, so he waited on the ground while Barbie went to the top and took pictures. Joe vowed he'd get over the sudden fear of heights he was having and go up in it with Barbie tomorrow.

They went to a little mall on the outskirts of Tacoma, in a town called Tukwila. "There's a restaurant here that I've been dying to eat at." Barbie explained. Joe was curious about what kind of restaurant would be better than the ones at home (nothing was better than Rose's), and he was pretty hungry, so he followed Barbie.

They stopped in front of the restaurant, and Joe did a double take. "Is that a rainforest?" he asked.

"Yep." Barbie grinned. "It's called the Rainforest Cafe."

They walked in to the restaurant and were seated by a waterfall looking exhibit. "This is kind of neat." Joe said. At that time, the lights suddenly dimmed and a thunderstorm seemed to rage. "What the heck was that?" Joe asked.

"It's an interactive cafe." Barbie said. "Just wait." As if on cue, the huge elephant to their left started moving, and it sounded like a stampede of elephants were going to come barreling through any minute.

"This is freaking awesome." Joe said.

"I know, right?" Barbie asked. He looked at Joe. "I wanted to see it before deciding if we should bring Giana to one of these. I think she'd like it."

"I think she would too." Joe agreed. They finished dinner, and decided to get the "Volcano" brownie for dessert. Joe could hear the waitresses the whole way, screaming "Volcano!" at the top of their lungs. They sat the brownie down on the table, and Joe and Barbie both made a wish before blowing out the sparkler that was on top (which was supposed to represent the volcano "erupting").

"That was awesome." Joe said as they left. "Thank you for the best honeymoon ever."

"Of course. Thank you too." Barbie said. "I can't wait to get home and see Giana if I'm truthful though."

"Me either." Joe laughed. "We're so parents, aren't we?"

"We are." Barbie agreed. "Hey, I have something to talk to you about when we get back home too."

"Ok. Sounds good to me."

They spent the night at the motel, and in the morning, were on the plane back to Chester's Mill. Joe's mind was thinking a lot of things on the flight back; the most important question that was on his mind was _What does Barbie want to discuss?_

They picked up Giana when they got home from the airport the next day; she told them all about what Aunt Angie, Uncle Joe, and Finn had been up to, and then they told her a little about their trip and gave her the gifts they had bought for her.

They ate dinner and then everyone headed to bed; in the morning, Barbie was the first one up; he woke everyone else up at around noon. They ate a brunch-like meal and then Giana asked Barbie and Joe to play dress up with her. They obliged, and at the end of the day, Joe forgot to ask Barbie what he had wanted to talk about.

Joe headed back to work on Monday, the day he had had him coming home and wanting to curl into a ball and just die. It was a long day, and Barbie knew that it wasn't the time to bring the subject up.

The next time either one of them remembered that they had something they needed to talk about was Friday. Joe had gotten off of work, and Giana was over at Junior and Angie's (Angie had wanted another girl in the house, since Junior was working tonight).

Joe was the first one to bring up the subject. "So, you, uh, had something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh, yeah." Barbie said. "Let's go set at the table."

"I've given your idea of more kids some thought." Barbie said. Joe tensed up a little; this always ended in an argument. "Relax, we're going to have an adult conversation."

"If you say so." Joe muttered under his breath. "Ok." he said out loud.

Barbie looked at Joe for a minute before he spoke. "You have a good point." Barbie started. "I have always wanted a boy and a girl, and I know that it's best if the kids are close in age." Barbie wanted for Joe to say something, when he didn't, Barbie continued. "I wasn't sure after Julia died that I wanted another kid. But the more I've thought about it, and the more I've seen you with Giana, the more I think a boy wouldn't be a bad idea."

Joe looked at Barbie. Was he hearing him right? Barbie was actually considering another child? After all those times he'd told Joe no, and all the fights they'd gotten in?

"I guess what I'm saying." Barbie finished, "Is that I'm ok with adopting another kid if you think you're ready. We both have to be on the same page."

"I'm ready if you are." Joe said. This was really going to happen. "It's going to take a while to get all the papers done and everything."

"I know." Barbie said. "But, why not try?"

"Yeah." Joe said. "We can pick them up next week. I'll call one of the girls who works at the agency and we'll have them by next Thursday."

"Sounds good." Barbie said.

Joe looked at Barbie. He couldn't help it; he tackled Barbie back onto the couch and kissed him hard. "Thank you so much."

"Of course." Barbie said. "It seemed like the right time too. Something was missing."

As Joe talked to Amy, his connection at the adoption agency, he couldn't help but wonder what had changed Barbie's mind. Sure, Barbie had said it was because of the trip with Giana, but Joe had a feeling it was something else. How did Joe bring it up without causing a fight?

Joe figured the best way was to just be direct; if Barbie got mad, then so be it. Joe had to make sure that Barbie wasn't just doing this because he thought it was what Joe wanted. They both had to be on board and committed to the idea.

After work, Joe picked up Giana from Angie's, and they headed home. Joe got Giana settled in at the table and started making dinner. Barbie wasn't home, which was kind of strange, but Joe didn't think much of it. The car was still in the drive, so Barbie couldn't have gone far. Barbie would usually leave a note, but no note was anywhere in the house. Joe tried to call Barbie's cell phone; Barbie didn't answer, so Joe left a voicemail. His gut started to twist a little. Something didn't seem right here.

He tried to play like nothing was wrong, so Giana wouldn't catch on that Joe was worried.

When Barbie still hadn't returned by 7 pm, Joe definitely knew something was up. He got Giana showered and in bed, and then tried to call Barbie's phone again. It went to voicemail, Joe left another message.

Joe called Angie. "Have you or Junior seen Barbie?"

"No. Why?" Angie asked.

"He wasn't here when I got home. The car is still here, but he's not answering his phone. Something's wrong, Ang, I just know it."

"Junior and I will be right over." she said. "Don't argue. We'll figure it out."

"Ok." Joe said. He put on a pot of hot water. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night.

Angie and Junior (and Finn, who was in his carrier, asleep) were at his house before Joe knew it; Junior started asking Joe a lot of questions.

"I last saw him this morning when I went to work and dropped Giana off with you guys." Joe recounted all the events of the morning. "I usually call him at lunch, but I didn't today because I was working on getting adoption papers so we could start the process."

"Ok." Junior jotted down notes. "So the last time you talked to him was 7:30 this morning?"

"Yes." Joe said.

"And he normally is home when you get home?"

"Yes sir."

"His phone just keeps ringing and going to voicemail." Junior stated.

"Yep." Joe said. "Which is weird."

"Ok. I'm going to have Angie stay here with you, and I'm going to go see if I can find Barbie, ok?"

"Thanks Junior."

"Of course. Just hang out here, ok? We'll get it all figured out."

Joe sat down on the couch; Angie got up and made them both a cup of her famous lemonade tea and they waited.

"We'll find him Joe." she said.

"I know." Joe answered.

Joe went and checked on Giana, then came back and sat on the couch by Angie. She wrapped her arms around Joe. "I know you're scared. I'm here for you."

"Thanks Angie." Joe let her pull him close and hung on. He must have (finally) drifted off to sleep, because the door opening startled him.

"It's just Junior." Angie said in a clam voice. Joe sat up and rubbed his eyes. "You were out for about an hour." Angie continued when Joe looked at her. Junior called about ten minutes ago."

"Ok." Joe made another cup of tea and was just finishing it up when Junior came through the door.

"Giana asleep?" Junior asked.

"Yeah." Joe answered. "Why?"

"I don't think you want her to see him like this." Junior replied. "Why don't you come out to the car?"

Joe did; the cold air woke him up a lot more. Seeing Barbie in the cop car made Joe even more alert. It was dark, but Joe could already tell something wasn't quite right.

When Junior opened the door, Joe really saw the damage. He could immediately smell the alcohol on Barbie's breath, and his right eye was purple-black and starting to swell shut.

"What did you do?" Joe asked.

"Joe?" Barbie asked.

"Yep."

"Uh oh." Barbie said, leaning out and throwing up.

"What happened?" Joe asked again once Barbie had finished throwing up.

"Uh." Barbie started. He paused for a moment before continuing. "I screwed up."

"Yeah. You did." Joe said.

Barbie could tell by Joe's tone of voice that he was in the doghouse and big time. He was going to try and explain himself, but nothing he could say would change the fact that the damage was done.

"I think you need to spend the night in the 'drunk tank' at the county jail." Joe said.

"I'm ok." Barbie said.

"No, you're not, and I don't want Giana seeing you like this. It's gonna be bad enough explaining the black eye." Joe said.

"Fine." Barbie said; Joe was right. He was supposed to be setting a good example for Giana, and going out, getting smashed, and getting in a bar fight was not good. The disapproving look Joe was giving him made Barbie's stomach clench.

"I'll get you in the morning." Joe said, then he turned around and walked back into the house after talking to Junior for a second.

Junior came back to the car. "Let's get you to your home for the night."

"You didn't tell him anything, did you?" Barbie asked.

"No. That's between you two. But you need to talk to him."

"I will." Barbie promised.

The night in the "drunk tank" really sobered Barbie up; he knew it was going to be hard, but he had to talk to Joe. There was no getting around it.

Joe came and got Barbie. Their car ride was mostly silent, until Barbie spoke. "I need to talk to you."

"Tonight after I get home from work." Joe said. Barbie remembered that it was Wednesday, and Joe had to be at work in twenty minutes.

"Yeah. Thanks." Barbie said.

"Giana's with Angie." Joe said. "Go sleep it off and shower. I'll see you tonight." Joe was speaking in short statements, and Barbie knew that Joe was pissed (and rightfully so).

Joe left, and Barbie did as Joe commanded; he showered and then laid down to rest. He slept really well, and when he woke up, it was only 2 pm. He went down to the kitchen table, where he tried to write down what he needed to tell Joe. That made his head hurt a lot, so he went to the couch and laid down, not remembering the paper.

When Joe came home with Giana at around 6 pm, Barbie was still sound asleep on the couch. The paper on the table caught Joe's eye.

 _"Dear Joe..."_ Joe started to read the letter, only to set it back down on the table when he heard Barbie wake up as Giana tackled him (jumped on him was more like it).

"Hi babygirl." Barbie said. "I missed you."

"You ok daddy?" Giana asked, pointing to Barbie's eye.

"Yes sweetie, I'm ok. I just got a boo-boo last night." Normally Joe would laugh at Barbie for his cheesy comment; he was still really pissed at him right now though.

"Oh." Giana leaned up and kissed Barbie's eye. "All better." she said. Joe couldn't help the smile on that one, it was freaking cute.

"Thank you Gigi." Barbie said. He got up off the couch (slowly, Joe noticed). "Let's go see if Joe needs help with dinner."

"I got it, but thanks." Joe said, cleaning off the table so he could place the plates, glasses, and silverware. "It'll be ready in a few."

"Ok." Barbie took Giana back into the living room, and Joe worked on dinner. He forgot all about the letter until late that night when they were getting ready to crawl into bed.

"What was the 'Dear Joe' letter about?" Joe asked as he slid under the covers. He didn't miss the way Barbie tensed up and hesitated before answering.

"Um." Barbie said. There was no use trying to skirt around the issue; they'd just get hurt in the end. It was better to rip it off like a Band-Aid. "Well, it wasn't a divorce letter." Barbie said, trying to lighten the mood. When Joe didn't laugh, Barbie cleared his throat and continued. "It was...god, I'm just going to say it. I don't know if I really am ready for another kid yet."

Joe looked at Barbie. _I figured as much._ "Dale, all you had to do was tell me when we talked about it. It wasn't worth getting drunk and spending the night in jail."

"No." Barbie admitted. "But you looked so happy, and I couldn't do that to you."

"Hey." Joe said. "Sure, I'd like another kid, but if we don't, the one I already have is perfect enough. We gotta be honest with each other though, ok? We don't want to do something that we'd resent for years to come. Let's put off the adoption process for now, until we're sure we're both ready."

"But." Barbie said. "It's not fair to you. You were so excited, and now it's like I'm taking it all away."

"You are." Joe agreed, but quickly added, "But, that's ok. When the time is right, it'll happen. Not before, not after."

Barbie looked at Joe. "Are you sure you're ok with this?"

"Yes." Joe said. "Besides, there's some days I question a second kid. Can you imagine another round of the terrible twos?"

"Oh god." Barbie laughed. Giana had been absolutely horrible. "You have a point there."

"So, we'll table it for now, and bring it up again when we're both ready." Joe said.

"Yes." Barbie agreed as he climbed into bed. Joe took a look at Barbie's eye. "Gonna explain it?" Joe asked.

"Uh." Barbie said. "Bar fight?"

"Say no more." Joe said. "Next time though, I won't be as nice. I'll probably kill you myself. At least tell me you're going out- I was worried sick."

"That's what Junior said when he found me." Barbie said. "I'm sorry."

"Me too." Joe said. "Let's go to bed and get some rest."

"Sounds like a plan to me."

In the morning, Joe was the first one up; he quietly left the bedroom, checked on Giana, and went downstairs to make breakfast. He then took a shower and got ready for work. On his way out, he woke up Barbie. "See you tonight. I'm on my way to work."

"Ok." Barbie said.

The workday was going pretty smoothly; Joe had a feeling he was going to get off early maybe (or right on time). The phone call from Angie changed that.

"Joe. Barbie and Giana are here." Angie said, making the hair on the back of Joe's neck stick up. This couldn't be good.

"And?" Joe asked, trying to keep himself calm. Panicking wouldn't get him anywhere.

"They're waiting for an appointment." Angie said. "They're at 3:30 with Dr. Linghiba. I already cleared it with your provider, and you can be in the room with them if you want to."

"What happened?" Joe asked.

"Can't tell you." Angie said. Joe sighed; she did have a point there. Stupid HIPPA. It had it's good points, but this part sucked.

"I won't stop my patient care." Joe said. "But I'll at least catch them on their way back."

"Alright." Angie said. "Gotta go."

"Yep. Thanks for the heads up."

Joe tried to focus on doing his work, but it was hard. Depending on what was going on, he might have to yell at or kill Barbie later.

3:30 finally came around, and Barbie and Giana were coming back to the room. Joe caught them.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Uh..." Barbie said. Joe could see the tear stained tracks down Giana's cheeks, so he asked Barbie again what had happened.

"I can leave the room, and you can check them in." Mikella, the nurse who was supposed to be doing the intake, said.

"No, it's ok." Joe said. "I'll go. He can tell me later what happened."

Mikella put two and two together. "This is the mysterious Barbie? I thought..."

"It was a girl." Barbie finished the statement. "I get that a lot."

"Oh, and this is the precious little Giana Joe talks about so much? She's a doll."

"I'll talk to you later on." Joe said and walked out of the room. Yep, Barbie was in for a big talking to when they got home.

Joe went about his work, until Dr. Linghiba called his name. "Joe? Would you come here please?"

Joe went over to where Dr. Linghiba was standing with Barbie and Giana. "I'm going to send her for an x-ray, and then I want to see you back here as soon as you're done."

"Alright." Barbie said. He and Giana left, and Dr. Linghiba looked at Joe. "Come to my office please."

Joe followed Dr. Linghiba down to her office. "Yes ma'am?" Joe asked once she shut the door.

"Have you ever hit Giana or grabbed her?"

"No." Joe responded. "Why?"

"Have you ever seen Dale do it?"

"No." Joe didn't like where this was headed.

"When was the last time you saw Giana?"

"This morning when I left for work. She was still sleeping. Barbie, Dale I mean, was just getting up and I told him she was asleep. Why?"

"Giana says that she fell out of bed and her daddy was really mad at her. He yanked her up and told her, 'Big girls don't fall out of bed.' I suspect a broken arm."

Joe was shocked. Barbie would never hurt Giana. "I..." he stopped. He wasn't sure what to say.

"I think it was just a girl who was scared." Dr. Linghiba said, "But if the x-ray comes back with a spiral fracture, I will have to report it."

"Yes ma'am." Joe said. "I know." He shook his head. "Barbie's never lost his temper like that before. I can't see him doing anything like that."

"We'll wait for the results."

Waiting for Barbie and Giana was hard; when they finally came back, Joe immediately went to Barbie.

"What happened?"

"Giana fell out of bed, and I went to help her up. She screamed the minute I touched her arm." Barbie said. "Wait, you don't think...Joe."

"I wasn't there, was I?" Joe asked. "I don't know. Let's just see what Dr. Linghiba has to say."

Dr. Linghiba chose that moment to walk through the door. "Well, I have good news and bad news."

"The good news?" Joe asked.

"It's not a spiral fracture. It was a linear fracture."

"The bad news?" Barbie asked as Joe breathed a sigh of relief.

"She'll have to wear a cast." Dr. Linghiba said. "I'm going to have you go to Dr. Adamisha's office across the street. He'll get you fixed up."

"I'll see you at home." Joe said. Giana gave Joe a one-armed hug, and then they were off. Joe went to talk to Dr. Linghiba again for a second.

When Joe got home, he noticed Giana had a pretty pink cast on; he looked over at Barbie.

"She picked it out herself." Barbie said. "She wants you to sign it for her too. I already did."

Joe picked up the sharpie and went over to Giana. "You want me to sign your cast, huh, baby?"

"Yes Joe!" Giana beamed. Joe did, and added a little stick figure drawing on it.

"Thanks Joe." Giana said, giving him a hug.

"Of course. I need to talk to daddy for a minute alone, ok? Will you be good and stay in the living room?"

"Sure." Joe got up off of the couch and looked at Barbie. "Kitchen. Now."

Barbie didn't like the tone of voice Joe was using, but he followed Joe anyway. "What is going on?"

"We're getting turned into Child Protective Services, or CPS, is what's going on." Joe hissed. "Since Giana mentioned that her daddy had yanked her, they had to."

"Even though it wasn't true?" Barbie asked.

"Yep. By law, it has to be investigated." Joe said. "So I need to know now, and be one hundred percent honest. Did you yank Giana up off the floor?"

"No." Barbie said. "It's like I told you at the doctor's office. I just went to help her off of the floor, and she screamed."

"Fine." Joe said. "They should be here sometime tomorrow. I was put on administrative leave from work until this is all done and over with."

"I'm sorry." Barbie said.

"It'll all get worked out." Joe said. "You just have to tell the truth to the investigators."

"I will." Barbie promised.

The investigators were there first thing in the morning; Joe and Barbie were taken to separate rooms, and Giana was led out of the house and into protective custody (Junior had managed to get that duty; Joe felt a little more at ease).

"Mr. McAllister." Detective Brown said. "Please explain to me any time you have felt like harming your husband's daughter."

"I haven't ever felt like harming her." Joe said. "Sure I get upset with her, but she's just a kid, you know? I just walk away from the situation and reapproach when I feel like I can have a cool head about it."

"I see. What about Mr. Barbara. Does he do the same thing?"

"I don't know about when I'm at work, but when I'm home, yes." Joe said. He'd never seen Barbie so much as make a motion to strike Giana.

"Thank you for your time." Detective Brown said. "I'll keep you in this room, and my partner, Detective Green, will come watch you while I go interrogate Mr. Barbara."

Joe nodded; he only hoped that Barbie was being truthful when he said he'd never hurt Giana.

It was Barbie's turn to be questioned by Detective Brown.

"Have you ever thought of harming your daughter?" Detective Brown asked. Barbie was enraged by the assumption that Detective Brown was making.

"No sir, I have never thought of doing such a despicable thing to a child." he answered.

"I see here that you have a temper." Detective Brown said, flipping through a folder. "Bar fight in 2003, convicted of drunk and disorderly conduct in 2006. Another fight in 2007. Breaking and entering in 2010 at your father's place. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I would say you have some anger issues."

"I did." Barbie admitted. "But I've worked on my temper, and I haven't had any more arrests or convictions since then."

"I see. Would you like to explain why you have the remnants of a black eye?"

"Uh." Barbie said. "It was a bar fight 3 days ago. I did not start it. In fact, I was actually trying to break it up."

"I see. And what was this bar fight over?" Detective Brown asked, and Barbie knew what he was trying to do. Barbie wasn't going to play that game though.

"Someone said something that another person didn't like, and the brawl was on. I was trying to get out of there when someone grabbed me and punched me."

"So this fight had nothing to do with the fact that you are a gay man raising a daughter with another gay man?"

That struck a chord with Barbie; he could feel the anger rising. "That's none of your..." he started to get really angry. He took a couple of deep breaths before continuing. "That's not any of your business sir." Barbie calmly finished.

"I see." Detective Brown said. He seemed to have gotten all the information he needed, because he said, "Alright. Detective Green will come and get you as well as Joe. We will be talking to Giana next, and you both can be present in the room."

Barbie and Joe entered the room with Detectives Brown and Green; Junior was in there playing with Giana. "Thank you Officer Rennie." Detective Green said. "We can take it from here."

"Thanks!" Giana giggled, waving goodbye to Junior. Barbie and Joe were both grateful that she didn't call him "Uncle Junior".

"Giana." Detective Brown said, "Why don't you come sit here at this table with your dad and Joe."

"Ok." she climbed up into Joe's lap. 

"What happened to your arm?" Detective Brown asked.

"I brokened it." she said.

"And how did that happen?"

Barbie gripped Joe's hand under the table. "I fell off the bed." Giana said. "Scary people were chasing me. One tried to grab me. I screamed. Then I opened my eyes, and daddy was standing there. He tried to help me up, but my arm hurt really really bad. We went to the doctor, and I got this cast." she said, showing Detective Brown the hot pink cast.

"I see. Did you see the man who hurt you?"

"No. He was in all black and I couldn't see his face." Giana said. Both Joe and Barbie breathed a sigh of relief; she must have had a nightmare and broken her arm when she fell out of the bed.

"Ok. I'll tell you what. I'm going to talk to your daddy and Joe for a minute, and then we'll be gone."

"Ok. Bye Bye!" she ran off to Junior, and they exited the room.

Detective Brown looked at Barbie and Joe. "It appears that this was all a misunderstanding. I will write up my report, but I think you two are ok."

Both Joe and Barbie looked at Detective Brown. "Thank you sir."

"You're welcome. Sorry about the misunderstanding."

"You were just doing your job." Joe said.

Joe and Barbie headed home; Giana was sound asleep in her car seat. Joe turned down the radio and looked at Barbie. "That was the scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life."

"It was pretty stressful." Barbie admitted. "I thought there for a minute that they were going to take Giana away from us."

"Me too." Joe agreed. "I'm glad everything worked out though."

"Yeah." Barbie said. "Hey, you wanna go out for dinner tonight? I don't really feel like cooking, and I can see you don't really either. Plus, it's late now anyway."

"Sure." Joe said. "Can we go to Popeye's? I really want some of their fried chicken."

"Of course." Barbie said. They got to the restaurant and decided to get it to go; Joe waited in the car with Giana while Barbie ran inside to get the food.

They made it home and Joe carried a sleeping Giana into the house. He got her sat down in her chair and woke her up. She immediately sniffed the air. "Chicken?"

"Yes baby." Barbie laughed. That girl and her nose.

"Awesome!" They had a good time eating dinner, and Joe texted Angie.

_Cleared I think. Just waiting for report._

_Good. Missed you today. Junior told me all about it._

_Ok. See you later._

_Yep._

Joe called the office and left a message for Dr. Linghiba; he figured they could handle one more day without him. Tomorrow was going to be a (well deserved) family day.

Joe told Barbie his idea. "I think we take her out and make tomorrow all about her."

"That sounds like a great idea." Barbie agreed.

They both settled into bed, and were out within minutes; the stress of the day had finally caught up to them.

Joe and Barbie got up early in the morning; together, they worked on making Giana her favorite breakfast of French toast (sprinkled with powdered sugar), scrambled eggs, and orange juice. Once it was ready, Joe went into Giana's room first to wake her up; Barbie trailed behind with breakfast on a tray.

"Rise and shine Miss sleepy-head." Joe said. Giana rolled over (and Joe held back a laugh at the way Giana's hair was sticking up in a million directions) and looked at Joe. Then she flopped her head back down in the pillow.

"I have breakfast." Barbie said, coming into the room; Giana didn't budge at first. Once the smell of the French toast hit her nostrils though, she was wide awake.

"This is for me?" she asked as Barbie and Joe sat down beside her. "And I get to eat it in bed?"

"Yep. All for you." Barbie said. "Just this once, you get to eat in bed."

"All right!" she started in on the food; Barbie and Joe watched in awe. How could that small of a girl put away that much food? Once she was finished, she looked at Barbie and Joe. "What's next?"

"I say shower." Joe teased. Giana hit him with her good arm.

"Fine." she pouted, letting Joe wrap her cast up before she got into the tub. Barbie helped her with the shower and getting dressed, and then it was downstairs.

"Giana, come sit on the couch." Joe said. Giana did, and Barbie came and sat down on the other side of her.

"Am I in trouble?" she asked. Usually, when both Joe and Barbie were on the couch with her and quiet, it was because she had done something wrong.

"No honey, you're not." Barbie said. "We just wanted to tell you how much we love you and that today is all about you. Whatever you want to do, we'll do it."

"Cool!" Giana said. She gave each of them a big hug. "I love you guys."

"Love you too sweetie." Joe said. "So what's first on the list?"

"Paradise Cove." Giana said with a grin.

"Alrighty then. Let's go." Barbie helped Giana get buckled into the car seat, and they were off.

There were a couple of waves visible from Paradise Cove today; Giana was really excited.

After that, they headed to the aquarium, and then Toys R Us. When they got home, Giana made them play dress-up; she was Doc McStuffins today (and she used Joe as her second opinion).

Finally, it was fish sticks for dinner, and then some cartoons; Barbie and Joe ended up falling asleep on the couch with Giana in their laps.

"Daddy. Papa." Giana shook them. "Bedtime."

"Yeah." Joe said, yawning. "It is."

"Come on babygirl, I'll give you a piggyback ride upstairs." Barbie said. Giana giggled and grabbed on to Barbie's neck.

Once they got her all ready for bed and tucked in, Joe and Barbie said, "Good night Giana. We love you."

"Love you too." Giana said as she started to fall asleep.

In the morning, Joe woke up to find Giana standing over him. "Hi baby. What's up?" Joe asked.

"Waiting for you to wake up." Giana said.

"Why?" Joe asked.

"Daddy and me have a surprise for you." Giana said.

"Ok?" Joe asked. What kind of surprise would Barbie and Giana have in store for him today? It was Friday, but Joe was still off of work (the report should be printed today; Dr. Linghiba said that Joe would be able to come back the minute the report was filed and on her desk). It could have been anything. Joe reluctantly got out of bed. "Let me shower first, ok? Go wait downstairs with Daddy and be patient."

"Ok." Giana bounded down the stairs. Joe heard Barbie chuckle as she told him everything. "Ok. We'll wait for him ok?"

"Ok."

Joe took a quick shower, and then he came downstairs, unsure of what he'd find. What he saw took his breath away.

Giana and Barbie had transformed the living room into a makeshift fort; there were pillow towers and couch cushion walls. It looked just like when he and Angie used to have...wait a minute.

"Lazy Day Movie Marathon?" Joe finished his thought out loud. Barbie and Giana both nodded.

"Thought you could use it." Barbie said. "Plus, Giana's been asking me what kind of movies we used to watch as kids."

"Ok." Joe said, piling into the fort. "Make room for me." Giana giggled as Joe tickled her to move her a little out of the way. "Thank you guys."

"Yep."

Midway through the fourth movie of the day, "We're Back" (the one about dinosaurs that Joe had always loved), Joe had a sudden thought. He'd have to talk to Barbie about it later on.

Barbie looked over at Joe at that exact moment, and Joe could tell that Barbie was thinking something too. He'd have to wait until tonight to figure out what it was though.

A couple more movies later they decided to take a break and eat dinner. As they made it, Barbie said, "I have something I want to talk to you about."

"I have something I want to talk to you about too." Joe said.

They ate dinner, and then finished the movie marathon with "Monsters Inc."

After they'd gotten Giana tucked into bed, and the living room back to looking like a living room, Barbie said he was going to go take a shower then head on up to bed.

"I'll meet you up there." Joe said.

Joe was almost asleep by the time Barbie was done; he became more alert as he heard the bedroom door open. "Hey."

"Hey." Barbie said, getting into bed beside Joe. "Today was fun."

"Yeah." Joe agreed. "It got me thinking."

"Oh yeah? What about?"

"No, you first."

"Why don't we say it at the same time?" Barbie said. He had a feeling him and Joe were on the same page.

"I want another kid." they both blurted out at the same time.

"You're sure?" Joe asked as the reality of what they both said sank in. "You really want another kid?"

"Yeah. I do." Barbie said, smiling. "If you do too, that is."

"I do." Joe smiled as well. "I would love another kids. I think we're ready."

"Me too." Barbie said, giving Joe's cheek a kiss. "You still have the adoption papers, right."

"Yep." Joe said. "Remind me in the morning and I'll get them out and we can work on them."

"Done." Barbie said. He looked at Joe. "I love you."

"Love you too."

The papers had been signed, and now they were just waiting for the approval of the adoption agency. "It should be any day now." Joe said.

They had agreed to not tell Giana until they knew for sure that they were able to adopt the baby; they didn't want to get her hopes up. The "I'm a Big Sister" t-shirt was in the box and already wrapped though.

Angie and Junior had agreed to be the godparents; they had done a good job of keeping everything hush-hush too. Of course it helped that they were expecting baby number two as well.

Joe was at work when the call came in; he immediately took a break and called Barbie. "It's approved." He said, voice cracking. This was actually happening.

"Awesome." Barbie's own voice was a little shaky. "We'll tell Giana tonight?"

"Sure. I'll bring home donuts too."

"Sounds like a good deal to me." Barbie said.

Telling Giana was the easy part; she tackled them both to the ground and gave them huge hugs. "Thank you." she said. "I hope it's a girl, so I can play dress up with her. But if it's a boy, that's ok too."

"We don't know yet baby what it's going to be." Joe said. "It's going to be a surprise for everyone."

"Awesome!" Giana was so excited for the rest of the night, and it was a chore to get her to go to bed, but they somehow managed.

As they went to bed themselves, Barbie said, "I can't believe this is real. Thank you so much."

"Thank you." Joe said. "You've given me so much more than I could have ever asked for."

They had just gotten comfortable when the phone rang; it was Angie. "Uh, guys? Can you come over? I think my water just broke."

"Round two." Joe and Barbie laughed. "We'll get her to the hospital, and then I'll go find Junior." Barbie said.

Giana was easy to get into the car, carrying her into the hospital was a different story.

Angie had a little girl, who she and Junior decided to name Isabella Giana. Everyone was good, and then Joe's phone rang.

"Uh huh. I see. We're already at Chester's Mill Clinic Hospital. Yeah, my sister had her baby. Sure. See you soon."

Joe turned to Barbie and Giana. "Ready to meet the new addition to the family?"

"She's..." Barbie asked. "I thought it was another month or so."

"It is." Joe said. "That's why she's going to come here. They have a good place for the baby. The NICU- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit- is one of the best in the state."

"Alright." Barbie was still nervous, but he seemed a little more relaxed knowing that the baby was going to be in good hands.

It was all a blur from there; the baby came out healthy and perfect, as the doctor said. "It's a boy." he added.

Barbie and Joe looked at each other. A boy. "Grady Maxwell" they said at the same time.


End file.
